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Over an extended period, threatening phone calls persisted. At first, reportedly from an ex-law enforcement official and an ex-military commander, and then from the police themselves. Finally, a local artisan claims he was called to law enforcement headquarters and told clearly: stop speaking out or face serious consequences.

The leather artisan is part of a group opposing a multimillion-dollar initiative where Dharavi – one of India’s largest and most storied slums – faces demolished and redeveloped by a corporate giant.

"The unique ecosystem of this area is unparalleled in the planet," states the protester. "Yet their intention is to destroy our way of life and prevent our protests."

Opposing Environments

The cramped lanes of the slum stand in sharp opposition to the soaring skyscrapers and luxury apartments that dominate the neighborhood. Residences are constructed informally and frequently missing basic amenities, small-scale operations emit toxic smoke and the atmosphere is permeated by the overpowering odor of uncovered waste channels.

To some, the vision of a renewed Dharavi into a modern district of high-end towers, neat parks, contemporary malls and residences with multiple bathrooms is an aspirational dream realized.

"We lack proper healthcare, paved pathways or water management and we have no places for youth to recreate," explains a tea vendor, fifty-six, who moved from southern India in that period. "The sole solution is to tear it all down and construct proper housing."

Resident Opposition

But others, like the leather artisan, are resisting the redevelopment.

Everyone acknowledges that Dharavi, long neglected as informal housing, is in stark need financial support and improvement. Yet they fear that this initiative – absent of resident participation – might convert valuable urban land into a playground for the rich, displacing the marginalized, immigrant populations who have been there since the late 1800s.

These were these shunned, displaced people who built up the vacant wetlands into an extensively researched phenomenon of community resilience and business activity, whose economic value is worth between $1m and a substantial sum annually, making it among the globe's biggest informal economies.

Displacement Concerns

Among approximately one million residents living in the dense sprawling neighborhood, less than 50% will be qualified for new homes in the development, which is estimated to take seven years to accomplish. Others will be transferred to undeveloped zones and saline fields on the distant periphery of the city, risking fragment a historic community. A portion will receive no housing at all.

People eligible to continue living in Dharavi will be allocated apartments in tower blocks, a substantial change from the evolved, shared lifestyle of dwelling and laboring that has maintained this area for generations.

Commercial activities from clothing production to pottery and waste processing are likely to reduce in scale and be moved to a designated "industrial sector" distant from residential areas.

Survival Challenge

For those such as this protester, a leather artisan and multi-generational resident to call home the slum, the plan presents a fundamental risk. His makeshift, three-storey operation creates garments – tailored coats, premium outerwear, fashionable garments – distributed in luxury boutiques in south Mumbai and overseas.

Household members dwells in the spaces below and employees and tailors – migrants from different regions – live in the same building, allowing him to sustain operations. Beyond Dharavi's enclave, accommodation prices are often 10 times more expensive for minimal space.

Threats and Warning

At the administrative buildings close by, an illustrated mock-up of the transformation initiative depicts a contrasting outlook. Fashionable residents move around on cycles and electric vehicles, buying international bread and croissants and having coffee on a patio outside a coffee shop and treat station. This represents a complete departure from the inexpensive idli sambar first meal and low-cost tea that sustains Dharavi's community.

"This is not progress for our community," says Shaikh. "It represents a massive land development that will make it unaffordable for us to survive."

Additionally, there exists skepticism of the development company. Headed by a powerful tycoon – among the country's wealthiest and an associate of the Indian prime minister – the conglomerate has been subject to claims of crony capitalism and ethical concerns, which it disputes.

While administrative bodies labels it a partnership, the developer contributed a significant amount for its majority share. Legal proceedings alleging that the initiative was questionably assigned to the corporation is under review in India's supreme court.

Continued Intimidation

After they started to actively protest the development, local opponents assert they have been subjected to a long-running campaign of coercion and warning – involving messages, explicit warnings and suggestions that criticizing the development was tantamount to speaking against the country – by figures they allege work for the corporate group.

Included in these suspected of issuing the threats is {a retired police officer|a former law enforcement official|an ex-c