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For months, threatening communications recurred. Initially, supposedly from an ex-law enforcement official and a former defense officer, and then from law enforcement directly. Ultimately, one resident claims he was ordered to the local precinct and warned explicitly: remain silent or face serious consequences.

The leather artisan is part of a group opposing a expensive redevelopment plan where Dharavi – 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 exceptional in the world," explains the resident. "However they want to eradicate our social fabric and silence our voices."

Contrasting Realities

The cramped lanes of this community stand in sharp opposition to the towering buildings and Bollywood penthouses that dominate the neighborhood. Homes are assembled randomly and frequently lacking adequate facilities, small-scale operations release harmful emissions and the air is permeated by the suffocating smell of uncovered waste channels.

For certain residents, the promise of a renewed Dharavi into a glistening neighborhood of premium apartments, organized recreational areas, shiny shopping centers and residences with multiple bathrooms is an aspirational dream realized.

"We don't have proper healthcare, proper streets or water management and we have no places for children to play," states a chai seller, fifty-six, who moved from his home state in the early eighties. "The only way is to demolish everything and provide modern residences."

Community Resistance

However, some, such as this protester, are fighting against the redevelopment.

All recognize that Dharavi, historically ignored as informal housing, is desperately requiring economic input and modernization. But they fear that this plan – lacking resident participation – is one that will convert valuable urban land into an elite enclave, forcing out the lower-caste, working-class residents who have resided there since generations ago.

It was these shunned, displaced people who built up the empty marshland into a frequently examined example of local enterprise and economic productivity, whose economic value is estimated at between a significant amount and $2m annually, making it among the globe's biggest unofficial markets.

Resettlement Issues

Among approximately one million residents living in the crowded sprawling area, a minority will be qualified for replacement housing in the redevelopment, which is expected to take a significant period to accomplish. Additional residents will be moved to wastelands and saline fields on the distant periphery of Mumbai, threatening to divide a generations-old neighborhood. A portion will be denied residences at all.

Those allowed to stay in the neighborhood will be allocated apartments in high-rise buildings, a substantial change from the organic, shared lifestyle of living and working that has supported Dharavi for so long.

Businesses from garment work to pottery and recycling are projected to decrease in quantity and be relocated to a specific "commercial zone" distant from homes.

Livelihood Crisis

In the case of this protester, a workshop owner and long-time resident to live in the slum, the project presents an existential threat. His informal, three-storey facility makes apparel – formal jackets, luxury coats, studded bomber jackets – distributed in luxury boutiques in south Mumbai and overseas.

Household members lives in the spaces downstairs and laborers and garment workers – workers from north India – live in the same building, allowing him to sustain operations. Outside the slum, accommodation prices are often 10 times costlier for minimal space.

Threats and Warning

Within the government offices close by, a visual representation of the Dharavi project shows a contrasting perspective. Slickly dressed residents move around on bicycles and electric vehicles, buying continental baguettes and breakfast items and enlisting beverages on an outdoor area adjacent to a restaurant and dessert parlor. This represents a complete departure from the inexpensive idli sambar breakfast and 5-rupee chai that sustains local residents.

"This isn't development for residents," explains Shaikh. "It's a massive land development that will render it impossible for us to survive."

There is also concern of the business conglomerate. Managed by a powerful tycoon – one of India's most powerful and a close ally of the government head – the conglomerate has faced accusations of crony capitalism and ethical concerns, which it disputes.

Even as local authorities describes it as a joint project, the corporation invested a significant amount for its 80% stake. Legal proceedings stating that the redevelopment was improperly granted to the corporation is pending in the top court.

Ongoing Pressure

After they started to actively protest the development, protesters and community members claim they have been experienced a long-running campaign of coercion and warning – involving communications, explicit warnings and implications that criticizing the project was tantamount to speaking against the country – by individuals they claim work for the business conglomerate.

Part of the group alleged to have delivering warnings is {a retired police officer|a former law enforcement official|an ex-c