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For months, intimidating communications continued. At first, reportedly from a retired cop and a retired army general, later from the police themselves. Finally, one resident claims he was called to law enforcement headquarters and instructed bluntly: remain silent or experience severe repercussions.

This third-generation resident is among those fighting a high-value project where this historic settlement – one of India’s largest and most storied slums – will be razed and modernized by a multinational conglomerate.

"The culture of Dharavi is exceptional in the planet," states the resident. "However their intention is to dismantle our social fabric and silence our voices."

Opposing Environments

The narrow alleys of the slum sit in stark contrast to the soaring skyscrapers and Bollywood penthouses that dominate the settlement. Residences are assembled randomly and often lacking adequate facilities, unregulated industries produce dangerous fumes and the air is filled with the unpleasant stench of exposed drainage.

To some, the prospect of the slum's redevelopment into a developed area of luxury high-rises, neat parks, contemporary malls and apartments with proper sanitation is an aspirational dream realized.

"There's no adequate medical facilities, proper streets or water management and we have no places for children to play," explains a chai seller, in his fifties, who relocated from Tamil Nadu in the early eighties. "The sole solution is to tear it all down and build us new homes."

Resident Opposition

But others, such as the leather artisan, are resisting the project.

None deny that Dharavi, long neglected as an illegal encroachment, is desperately requiring financial support and improvement. But they worry that this project – absent of public consultation – could potentially turn a piece of prime Mumbai real estate into an elite enclave, evicting the marginalized, migrant communities who have resided there since generations ago.

These were these excluded, relocated individuals who developed the empty marshland into a frequently examined example of community resilience and business activity, whose production is valued at between a significant amount and $2m annually, making it a major unregulated sectors.

Resettlement Issues

Of the roughly a million people living in the packed 220-hectare neighborhood, less than 50% will be eligible for alternative accommodation in the redevelopment, which is estimated to take a significant period to finish. The remainder will be transferred to undeveloped zones and salt plains on the distant periphery of the city, threatening to fragment a historic neighborhood. A portion will be denied homes at all.

Those allowed to remain in Dharavi will be allocated units in multi-story structures, a significant rupture from the organic, communal way of residing and operating that has supported Dharavi for so long.

Commercial activities from garment work to clay work and waste processing are expected to reduce in scale and be relocated to a specific "business area" distant from people's residences.

Survival Challenge

For residents like this protester, a craftsman and multi-generational of his family to reside in Dharavi, the redevelopment presents a fundamental risk. His rickety, three-floor operation creates garments – formal jackets, premium outerwear, decorated jackets – marketed in luxury boutiques in upscale neighborhoods and abroad.

Household members dwells in the accommodations downstairs and laborers and sewers – laborers from different regions – reside on-site, allowing him to afford their labour. Away from this community, accommodation prices are often tenfold more expensive for a single room.

Threats and Warning

At the government offices in the vicinity, a conceptual model of the Dharavi project illustrates a very different perspective. Slickly dressed people move around on cycles and e-vehicles, buying continental baked goods and breakfast items and socializing on a terrace near Dharavi Cafe and treat station. It is a complete departure from the affordable idli sambar breakfast and budget beverage that supports local residents.

"This isn't progress for us," explains the artisan. "It represents a massive land development that will make it unaffordable for our community to continue."

Furthermore, there's skepticism of the business conglomerate. Headed by a powerful tycoon – among the country's wealthiest and a close ally of the Indian prime minister – the conglomerate has been subject to claims of preferential treatment and questionable practices, which it denies.

Although local authorities labels it a joint project, the corporation contributed $950m for its majority share. A lawsuit claiming that the project was questionably assigned to the developer is pending in the nation's highest judicial body.

Ongoing Pressure

Since they began to vocally oppose the project, Shaikh and other residents claim they have been experienced an extended period of coercion and warning – involving messages, direct threats and insinuations that criticizing the project was equivalent to speaking against the country – by individuals they allege work for the developer.

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