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Across several weeks, intimidating messages recurred. Originally, allegedly from a retired cop and a former defense officer, subsequently from law enforcement directly. Finally, a local artisan asserts he was called to the police station and instructed bluntly: keep quiet or face serious consequences.

The leather artisan is part of a group resisting a expensive project where this historic settlement – an iconic Mumbai neighborhood – is scheduled to be razed and modernized by a multinational conglomerate.

"The culture of the slum is exceptional in the world," explains Shaikh. "However their intention is to destroy our community and silence our voices."

Dual Worlds

The cramped lanes of the slum stand in sharp opposition to the soaring skyscrapers and Bollywood penthouses that overshadow the area. Homes are built haphazardly and frequently lacking adequate facilities, small-scale operations produce dangerous fumes and the air is permeated by the unpleasant stench of open sewers.

To some, the vision of a renewed Dharavi into a developed area of high-end towers, neat parks, modern retail complexes and residences with multiple bathrooms is an optimistic future realized.

"We don't have adequate medical facilities, roads or drainage and there are no spaces for youth to recreate," explains A Selvin Nadar, in his fifties, who moved from Tamil Nadu in the early eighties. "The single option is to tear it all down and construct proper housing."

Local Protest

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

Everyone acknowledges that Dharavi, historically ignored as unauthorized settlement, is urgently needing economic input and modernization. However they fear that this initiative – lacking public consultation – is one that will turn valuable urban land into an elite enclave, evicting the lower-caste, immigrant populations who have lived there since the nineteenth century.

This involved these shunned, migrant workers who built up the empty marshland into an extensively researched phenomenon of community resilience and business activity, whose production is valued at between one million dollars and a substantial sum annually, making it a major unregulated sectors.

Displacement Concerns

Out of about one million people living in the crowded sprawling area, a minority will be eligible for replacement housing in the development, which is estimated to take an extended timeframe to accomplish. Additional residents will be relocated to undeveloped zones and coastal regions on the distant periphery of Mumbai, threatening to divide a historic neighborhood. A portion will be denied homes at all.

Those allowed to stay in the area will be allocated flats in multi-story structures, a significant rupture from the organic, collective approach of residing and operating that has maintained this area for generations.

Industries from clothing production to clay work and recycling are likely to decrease in quantity and be moved to a specific "business area" far from people's residences.

Survival Challenge

In the case of this protester, a craftsman and long-time of his family to call home this community, the plan presents a fundamental risk. His informal, three-floor workshop produces apparel – formal jackets, premium outerwear, decorated jackets – marketed in high-end shops in south Mumbai and internationally.

Relatives dwells in the rooms underneath and laborers and tailors – migrants from different regions – live in the same building, permitting him to manage costs. Outside the slum, housing costs are typically 10 times costlier for minimal space.

Pressure and Coercion

In the government offices close by, a conceptual model of the Dharavi project shows an alternative vision for the future. Well-groomed inhabitants mill about on cycles and eco-friendly transport, purchasing international baked goods and pastries and enlisting beverages on a terrace near a restaurant and Ice-Cream. This represents a stark contrast from the affordable idli sambar first meal and 5-rupee chai that supports Dharavi's community.

"This is not progress for residents," says the artisan. "This constitutes a massive property transaction that will render it impossible for residents to remain."

Additionally, there exists concern of the business conglomerate. Headed by an influential industrialist – among the country's wealthiest and an associate of the Indian prime minister – the conglomerate has faced accusations of favoritism and ethical concerns, which it disputes.

Even as local authorities describes it as a collaborative effort, the business group contributed $950m for its majority share. Legal proceedings alleging that the project was questionably assigned to the business group is being considered in the top court.

Sustained Harassment

After they started to vocally oppose the development, protesters and community members state they have been faced ongoing efforts of harassment and intimidation – including messages, explicit warnings and insinuations that opposing the initiative was comparable with opposing national interests – by individuals they claim are associated with the developer.

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