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Across several weeks, threatening phone calls recurred. Initially, allegedly from an ex-law enforcement official and a retired army general, subsequently from the police themselves. In the end, a local artisan states he was called to the local precinct and instructed bluntly: remain silent or face serious consequences.

The leather artisan is one of many fighting a high-value initiative where one of India's largest slums – a massive informal community with rich history – faces bulldozed and redeveloped by a large business group.

"The distinctive community of the slum is unparalleled in the world," says the protester. "But the plan aims to dismantle our social fabric and prevent our protests."

Opposing Environments

The cramped lanes of Dharavi stand in sharp opposition to the high-rise structures and Bollywood penthouses that dominate the neighborhood. Homes are assembled randomly and typically missing basic amenities, unregulated industries produce dangerous fumes and the environment is permeated by the overpowering odor of uncovered waste channels.

To some, the prospect of a renewed Dharavi into a glistening neighborhood of premium apartments, organized recreational areas, shiny shopping centers and homes with proper sanitation is an aspirational dream come true.

"We lack proper healthcare, proper streets or drainage and there's nowhere for kids to enjoy," explains A Selvin Nadar, 56, who relocated from southern India in that period. "The sole solution is to demolish everything and build us new homes."

Resident Opposition

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

Everyone acknowledges that the slum, historically ignored as unauthorized settlement, is desperately requiring investment and development. But they fear that this initiative – absent of community input – is one that will convert premium city property into an elite enclave, evicting the marginalized, immigrant populations who have resided there since generations ago.

It was these excluded, migrant workers who built up the empty marshland into an extensively researched phenomenon of community resilience and business activity, whose economic value is worth between a significant amount and $2m per year, making it a major informal economies.

Displacement Concerns

Among approximately one million people living in the packed 220-hectare area, less than 50% will be eligible for replacement housing in the redevelopment, which is projected to take a significant period to accomplish. Others will be relocated to undeveloped zones and salt plains on the remote edges of the metropolis, risking break up a generations-old social network. Certain individuals will receive no residences at all.

Residents permitted to continue living in the neighborhood will be given flats in tower blocks, a significant rupture from the evolved, collective approach of dwelling and laboring that has sustained the community for generations.

Commercial activities from garment work to pottery and waste processing are expected to shrink in number and be relocated to an allocated "commercial zone" separated from people's residences.

Livelihood Crisis

In the case of Shaikh, a workshop owner and multi-generational inhabitant to call home this community, the project presents a survival challenge. His makeshift, three-storey workshop makes garments – sharp blazers, premium outerwear, studded bomber jackets – marketed in premium stores in south Mumbai and abroad.

Relatives lives in the spaces below and laborers and tailors – workers from other states – also sleep there, allowing him to afford their labour. Outside this community, housing costs are frequently significantly as high for basic accommodation.

Pressure and Coercion

At the official facilities nearby, an illustrated mock-up of the transformation initiative depicts a very different perspective. Slickly dressed people gather on bicycles and electric vehicles, purchasing continental baked goods and croissants and socializing on a patio adjacent to a coffee shop and Ice-Cream. This represents a world away from the affordable idli sambar breakfast and 5-rupee chai that sustains local residents.

"This is not improvement for our community," explains the artisan. "It's a huge property transaction that will price people out for residents to remain."

There is also skepticism of the development company. Managed by a powerful tycoon – a leading figure and a supporter of the Indian prime minister – the corporation has been subject to claims of preferential treatment and financial impropriety, which it denies.

Even as administrative bodies calls it a partnership, the developer paid a significant amount for its majority share. Legal proceedings stating that the project was improperly granted to the developer is being considered in the nation's highest judicial body.

Continued Intimidation

Since they began to vocally oppose the development, Shaikh and other residents claim they have been faced a long-running campaign of pressure and threats – comprising phone calls, direct threats and insinuations that speaking against the initiative was comparable with speaking against the country – by individuals they allege are associated with the developer.

Part of the group suspected of making intimidations is {a retired police officer|a former law enforcement official|an ex-c