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For months, threatening communications continued. Originally, supposedly from an ex-law enforcement official and an ex-military commander, later from the authorities. In the end, a local artisan claims he was ordered to the local precinct and instructed bluntly: remain silent or face serious consequences.

The leather artisan is among those resisting a expensive project where this historic settlement – one of India’s largest and most storied slums – will be razed and transformed by a large business group.

"The culture of this area is like nowhere else in the globe," states the resident. "But they want to destroy our way of life and stop us speaking out."

Dual Worlds

The dank gullies of Dharavi sit in stark contrast to the high-rise structures and luxury apartments that dominate the neighborhood. Residences are assembled randomly and typically without proper sanitation, small-scale operations produce dangerous fumes and the air is saturated with the suffocating smell of exposed drainage.

For certain residents, the promise of Dharavi transformed into a modern district of high-end towers, organized recreational areas, modern retail complexes and homes with two toilets is an aspirational dream realized.

"We don't have proper healthcare, roads or water management and we have no places for kids to enjoy," states a tea vendor, in his fifties, who moved from southern India in 1982. "The single option is to tear it all down and provide modern residences."

Local Protest

Yet certain residents, such as the leather artisan, are opposing the redevelopment.

None deny that Dharavi, long neglected as an illegal encroachment, is in stark need economic input and modernization. But they worry that this project – absent of community input – is one that will transform a piece of prime Mumbai real estate into a luxury development, evicting the disadvantaged, working-class residents who have been there since generations ago.

This involved these marginalized, displaced people who developed the vacant wetlands into a widely studied marvel of self-reliance and economic productivity, whose economic value is valued at between a significant amount and two million dollars per year, making it a major informal economies.

Resettlement Issues

Among approximately a million residents living in the dense sprawling zone, fewer than half will be eligible for alternative accommodation in the redevelopment, which is projected to take an extended timeframe to complete. Additional residents will be moved to undeveloped zones and coastal regions on the distant periphery of the metropolis, potentially divide a historic neighborhood. Certain individuals will not get housing at all.

People eligible to stay in Dharavi will be allocated flats in high-rise buildings, a major break from the evolved, shared lifestyle of residing and operating that has maintained the community for generations.

Commercial activities from garment work to ceramic crafts and material recovery are expected to reduce in scale and be moved to an allocated "business area" separated from homes.

Livelihood Crisis

For those such as this protester, a leather artisan and long-time resident to live in this community, the project presents an existential threat. His rickety, multi-level operation creates garments – sharp blazers, premium outerwear, fashionable garments – marketed in high-end shops in south Mumbai and overseas.

Relatives dwells in the rooms below and his workers and tailors – workers from north India – live there, enabling him to sustain operations. Away from this community, Mumbai rents are frequently 10 times costlier for a single room.

Harassment and Intimidation

At the government offices nearby, an illustrated mock-up of the Dharavi project illustrates an alternative outlook. Slickly dressed residents mill about on cycles and e-vehicles, acquiring international bread and pastries and having coffee on a patio outside Dharavi Cafe and treat station. This depicts a stark contrast from the affordable idli sambar breakfast and 5-rupee chai that sustains the neighborhood.

"This represents no progress for residents," explains the artisan. "This constitutes an enormous land development that will render it impossible for residents to remain."

Furthermore, there's concern of the corporate group. Headed by an influential industrialist – a leading figure and an associate of the Indian prime minister – the business group has faced accusations of favoritism and questionable practices, which it disputes.

Even as the state government calls it a collaborative effort, the developer invested $950m for its controlling interest. A lawsuit stating that the project was unfairly awarded to the developer is being considered in the top court.

Continued Intimidation

Since they began to vocally oppose the development, local opponents state they have been experienced an extended period of coercion and warning – including phone calls, clear intimidation and implications that opposing the development was comparable with opposing national interests – by figures they claim work for the corporate group.

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