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Over an extended period, intimidating messages recurred. At first, allegedly from an ex-law enforcement official and an ex-military commander, later from the authorities. Ultimately, a local artisan states he was ordered to the local precinct and instructed bluntly: keep quiet or experience severe repercussions.

The leather artisan is part of a group resisting a expensive redevelopment plan where one of India's largest slums – a massive informal community with rich history – faces razed and transformed by a large business group.

"The unique ecosystem of Dharavi is like nowhere else in the world," says the protester. "Yet the plan aims to eradicate our way of life and prevent our protests."

Opposing Environments

The dank gullies of Dharavi sit in stark contrast to the high-rise structures and elite residences that overshadow the neighborhood. Homes are constructed informally and often lacking adequate facilities, unregulated industries emit toxic smoke and the air is saturated with the suffocating smell of exposed drainage.

To some, the prospect of a renewed Dharavi into a developed area of luxury high-rises, organized recreational areas, shiny shopping centers and apartments with two toilets is an optimistic future achieved.

"We don't have adequate medical facilities, roads or sewage systems and there's nowhere for children to play," explains A Selvin Nadar, fifty-six, who moved from Tamil Nadu in 1982. "The sole solution is to tear it all down and construct proper housing."

Local Protest

Yet certain residents, including the leather artisan, are fighting against the redevelopment.

None deny that the slum, consistently overlooked as informal housing, is desperately requiring economic input and modernization. But they fear that this project – lacking public consultation – could potentially convert valuable urban land into a luxury development, displacing the marginalized, migrant communities who have been there since the nineteenth century.

This involved these excluded, relocated individuals who developed the uninhabited area into an extensively researched phenomenon of community resilience and economic productivity, whose economic value is valued at between $1m and two million dollars annually, making it among the globe's biggest unregulated sectors.

Resettlement Issues

Out of about one million people living in the crowded sprawling neighborhood, fewer than half will be qualified for replacement housing in the redevelopment, which is estimated to take a significant period to accomplish. The remainder will be moved to wastelands and salt plains on the remote edges of Mumbai, potentially divide a historic community. Certain individuals will be denied homes at all.

People eligible to remain in the area will be given units in tower blocks, a major break from the evolved, collective approach of living and working that has sustained this area for many years.

Businesses from garment work to ceramic crafts and recycling are expected to decrease in quantity and be moved to a designated "industrial sector" separated from homes.

Existential Threat

For those such as Shaikh, a workshop owner and long-time resident to call home this community, the redevelopment presents a fundamental risk. His rickety, three-storey workshop makes apparel – sharp blazers, premium outerwear, fashionable garments – distributed in high-end shops in south Mumbai and abroad.

Relatives lives in the rooms underneath and his workers and sewers – laborers from different regions – also sleep on-site, enabling him to manage costs. Away from Dharavi's enclave, Mumbai rents are frequently 10 times costlier for a single room.

Harassment and Intimidation

At the administrative buildings close by, a visual representation of the redevelopment plan depicts a contrasting vision for the future. Fashionable inhabitants mill about on bicycles and eco-friendly transport, purchasing western-style baked goods and pastries and socializing on a patio near a restaurant and treat station. This represents a stark contrast from the 20-rupee idli sambar breakfast and low-cost tea that sustains Dharavi's community.

"This is not progress for us," explains Shaikh. "It's an enormous land development that will price people out for our community to continue."

Furthermore, there's skepticism of the business conglomerate. Managed by a powerful tycoon – among the country's wealthiest and a supporter of the Indian prime minister – the corporation has faced accusations of crony capitalism and questionable practices, which it disputes.

Although local authorities calls it a joint project, the business group invested $950m for its controlling interest. A case alleging that the initiative was unfairly awarded to the corporation is under review in the top court.

Sustained Harassment

From when they initiated to vocally oppose the redevelopment, protesters and community members assert they have been faced an extended period of harassment and intimidation – involving phone calls, explicit warnings and implications that speaking against the initiative was comparable with anti-national sentiment – by individuals they assert work for the business conglomerate.

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