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Across several weeks, threatening messages persisted. Originally, supposedly from a retired cop and a retired army general, subsequently from law enforcement directly. In the end, a local artisan claims he was ordered to the local precinct and told clearly: remain silent or encounter real trouble.

This third-generation resident is among those fighting a multimillion-dollar initiative where one of India's largest slums – one of India’s largest and most storied slums – is scheduled to be razed and transformed by a large business group.

"The culture of Dharavi is unparalleled in the world," states the protester. "Yet they want to dismantle our social fabric and prevent our protests."

Contrasting Realities

The narrow alleys of the slum present a dramatic difference to the towering buildings and elite residences that loom over the settlement. Homes are built haphazardly and often lacking adequate facilities, unregulated industries produce dangerous fumes and the air is permeated by the overpowering odor of open sewers.

To some, the promise of a renewed Dharavi into a developed area of luxury high-rises, well-maintained green spaces, shiny shopping centers and apartments with two toilets is an optimistic future achieved.

"We lack sufficient health services, paved pathways or water management and we have no places for children to play," says A Selvin Nadar, in his fifties, who relocated from Tamil Nadu in the early eighties. "The sole solution is to clear the area and construct proper housing."

Community Resistance

However, some, like the leather artisan, are resisting the project.

All recognize that this community, consistently overlooked as unauthorized settlement, is desperately requiring financial support and improvement. But they fear that this plan – without public consultation – might convert premium city property into a playground for the rich, displacing the disadvantaged, migrant communities who have lived there since generations ago.

It was these excluded, displaced people who established the empty marshland into an extensively researched phenomenon of community resilience and business activity, whose production is valued at between $1m and a substantial sum annually, making it one of the world's largest informal economies.

Displacement Concerns

Of the roughly one million people living in the crowded 2.2 square kilometer area, fewer than half will be eligible for alternative accommodation in the project, which is estimated to take seven years to finish. Others will be transferred to barren areas and saline fields on the distant periphery of the city, potentially break up a generations-old community. Some will not get homes at all.

Residents permitted to continue living in Dharavi will be given apartments in high-rise buildings, a substantial change from the evolved, shared lifestyle of living and working that has maintained Dharavi for many years.

Businesses from garment work to clay work and material recovery are projected to shrink in number and be moved to a specific "industrial sector" far from residential areas.

Survival Challenge

In the case of the leather artisan, a craftsman and multi-generational resident to call home this community, the project presents a fundamental risk. His makeshift, multi-level operation produces leather coats – sharp blazers, luxury coats, fashionable garments – marketed in high-end shops in upscale neighborhoods and abroad.

His family lives in the accommodations downstairs and laborers and garment workers – laborers from north India – live there, enabling him to manage costs. Away from the slum, Mumbai rents are typically 10 times as high for minimal space.

Harassment and Intimidation

In the government offices nearby, an illustrated mock-up of the transformation initiative depicts a contrasting perspective. Slickly dressed inhabitants move around on two-wheelers and e-vehicles, purchasing western-style baked goods and pastries and socializing on an outdoor area near a coffee shop and dessert parlor. This depicts a complete departure from the 20-rupee idli sambar breakfast and low-cost tea that supports Dharavi's community.

"This represents no development for us," says the artisan. "This constitutes an enormous real estate deal that will price people out for us to survive."

Additionally, there exists concern of the business conglomerate. Managed by an influential industrialist – one of India's most powerful and a supporter of the government head – the corporation has been subject to claims of crony capitalism and financial impropriety, which it disputes.

Even as the state government calls it a partnership, the developer paid nearly a billion dollars for its controlling interest. A lawsuit stating that the initiative was improperly granted to the corporation is under review in the top court.

Sustained Harassment

After they started to vocally oppose the redevelopment, Shaikh and other residents claim they have been experienced ongoing efforts of harassment and intimidation – including phone calls, direct threats and insinuations that opposing the initiative was comparable with opposing national interests – by individuals they claim are associated with the developer.

Among those alleged to have delivering warnings is {a retired police officer|a former law enforcement official|an ex-c