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For months, intimidating communications continued. Originally, supposedly from a retired cop and an ex-military commander, later from the authorities. In the end, a local artisan claims he was summoned to the police station and warned explicitly: stop speaking out or face serious consequences.

The leather artisan is one of many opposing a high-value project where one of India's largest slums – a massive informal community with rich history – is scheduled to be razed and modernized by a multinational conglomerate.

"The unique ecosystem of this area is like nowhere else in the globe," says Shaikh. "However their intention is to eradicate our community and prevent our protests."

Opposing Environments

The narrow alleys of this community stand in sharp opposition to the soaring skyscrapers and luxury apartments that loom over the area. Dwellings are built haphazardly and often lacking adequate facilities, informal businesses emit toxic smoke and the environment is filled with the overpowering odor of exposed drainage.

For certain residents, the prospect of the slum's redevelopment into a glistening neighborhood of high-end towers, organized recreational areas, modern retail complexes and residences with multiple bathrooms is an aspirational dream achieved.

"We don't have adequate medical facilities, paved pathways or water management and there's nowhere for children to play," explains a tea vendor, 56, who moved from his home state in 1982. "The single option is to clear the area and provide modern residences."

Local Protest

But others, including this protester, are fighting against the redevelopment.

None deny that Dharavi, long neglected as unauthorized settlement, is urgently needing investment and development. However they fear that this project – lacking resident participation – is one that will transform premium city property into a luxury development, evicting the lower-caste, working-class residents who have been there since generations ago.

It was these marginalized, relocated individuals who built up the empty marshland into a widely studied marvel of local enterprise and commercial output, whose output is worth between a significant amount and a substantial sum annually, making it one of the world's largest unofficial markets.

Resettlement Issues

Out of about 1 million inhabitants living in the dense 2.2 square kilometer area, a minority will be eligible for alternative accommodation in the development, which is projected to take an extended timeframe to finish. The remainder will be relocated to undeveloped zones and salt plains on the remote edges of Mumbai, risking fragment a generations-old social network. Some will be denied homes at all.

Residents permitted to stay in Dharavi will be provided units in multi-story structures, a significant rupture from the natural, collective approach of residing and operating that has supported Dharavi for many years.

Commercial activities from clothing production to ceramic crafts and material recovery are projected to shrink in number and be transferred to a designated "commercial zone" separated from homes.

Livelihood Crisis

For residents like this protester, a leather artisan and multi-generational of his family to reside in this community, the plan presents a survival challenge. His rickety, three-storey operation makes apparel – tailored coats, suede trenches, fashionable garments – distributed in luxury boutiques in south Mumbai and abroad.

Relatives lives in the accommodations underneath and his workers and sewers – workers from north India – live there, allowing him to afford their labour. Beyond the slum, Mumbai rents are frequently significantly costlier for minimal space.

Harassment and Intimidation

At the official facilities close by, a conceptual model of the transformation initiative illustrates an alternative perspective. Slickly dressed inhabitants mill about on two-wheelers and e-vehicles, purchasing continental bread and breakfast items and socializing on an outdoor area outside a restaurant and treat station. It is a complete departure from the affordable idli sambar first meal and 5-rupee chai that sustains local residents.

"This is not improvement for residents," states the protester. "It's an enormous real estate deal that will render it impossible for our community to continue."

Furthermore, there's distrust of the corporate group. Headed by a powerful tycoon – among the country's wealthiest and a close ally of the government head – the corporation has been subject to claims of preferential treatment and ethical concerns, which it denies.

While the state government calls it a partnership, the developer invested nearly a billion dollars for its controlling interest. A case claiming that the initiative was improperly granted to the business group is being considered in India's supreme court.

Ongoing Pressure

From when they initiated to publicly resist the redevelopment, local opponents state they have been faced an extended period of coercion and warning – including messages, explicit warnings and insinuations that criticizing the initiative was tantamount to anti-national sentiment – by people they claim are associated with the corporate group.

Part of the group alleged to have issuing the threats is {a retired police officer|a former law enforcement official|an ex-c