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Across several weeks, coercive communications recurred. Originally, supposedly from a former police officer and an ex-military commander, later from the police themselves. In the end, a local artisan claims he was called to law enforcement headquarters and warned explicitly: keep quiet or face serious consequences.

The leather artisan is among those resisting a high-value redevelopment plan where one of India's largest slums – one of India’s largest and most storied slums – faces demolished and modernized by a large business group.

"The culture of this area is unparalleled in the globe," says the protester. "However the plan aims to eradicate our way of life and prevent our protests."

Dual Worlds

The cramped lanes of this community stand in sharp opposition to the soaring skyscrapers and luxury apartments that overshadow the area. Residences are assembled randomly and frequently lacking adequate facilities, informal businesses produce dangerous fumes and the air is permeated by the suffocating smell of uncovered waste channels.

For certain residents, the prospect of the slum's redevelopment into a developed area of luxury high-rises, organized recreational areas, contemporary malls and homes with two toilets is a hopeful vision realized.

"We lack adequate medical facilities, paved pathways or water management and there's nowhere for kids to enjoy," states A Selvin Nadar, 56, who moved from Tamil Nadu in the early eighties. "The only way is to demolish everything and provide modern residences."

Resident Opposition

However, some, like the leather artisan, are opposing the redevelopment.

Everyone acknowledges that the slum, long neglected as unauthorized settlement, is in stark need economic input and modernization. But they fear that this plan – absent of resident participation – could potentially transform a piece of prime Mumbai real estate into a luxury development, evicting the lower-caste, migrant communities who have resided there since the nineteenth century.

These were these shunned, relocated individuals who established the empty marshland into an extensively researched phenomenon of self-reliance and business activity, whose economic value is worth between a significant amount and $2m a year, making it one of the world's largest informal economies.

Relocation Worries

Out of about one million people living in the dense sprawling zone, less than 50% will be qualified for replacement housing in the development, which is projected to take seven years to complete. The remainder will be relocated to wastelands and salt plains on the remote edges of the metropolis, potentially fragment a long-established community. Some will be denied homes at all.

People eligible to stay in Dharavi will be provided apartments in tower blocks, a significant rupture from the evolved, shared lifestyle of residing and operating that has supported this area for so long.

Industries from clothing production to clay work and material recovery are expected to reduce in scale and be moved to a designated "commercial zone" separated from people's residences.

Livelihood Crisis

For those such as Shaikh, a leather artisan and third generation resident to call home the slum, the redevelopment presents a fundamental risk. His informal, three-floor workshop creates apparel – tailored coats, suede trenches, studded bomber jackets – sold in premium stores in the city's affluent areas and abroad.

Household members dwells in the spaces below and employees and sewers – migrants from different regions – reside there, enabling him to afford their labour. Beyond the slum, accommodation prices are frequently 10 times costlier for a single room.

Threats and Warning

At the administrative buildings close by, a visual representation of the Dharavi project illustrates a contrasting outlook. Fashionable people mill about on two-wheelers and eco-friendly transport, buying western-style bread and pastries and enlisting beverages on an outdoor area adjacent to a restaurant and treat station. It is a stark contrast from the 20-rupee idli sambar breakfast and low-cost tea that maintains the neighborhood.

"This represents no development for residents," explains the protester. "It represents an enormous real estate deal that will render it impossible for residents to remain."

Additionally, there exists skepticism of the business conglomerate. Managed by an influential industrialist – one of India's most powerful and an associate of the national leader – the conglomerate has faced accusations of preferential treatment and financial impropriety, which it disputes.

While local authorities calls it a collaborative effort, the developer paid $950m for its majority share. Legal proceedings stating that the initiative was questionably assigned to the business group is under review in the top court.

Continued Intimidation

From when they initiated to vocally oppose the redevelopment, Shaikh and other residents assert they have been faced a long-running campaign of pressure and threats – including communications, clear intimidation and implications that speaking against the initiative was tantamount to anti-national sentiment – by individuals they assert are associated with the corporate group.

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