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Over an extended period, threatening communications recurred. Originally, allegedly from an ex-law enforcement official and an ex-military commander, subsequently from law enforcement directly. Finally, a local artisan states he was ordered to law enforcement headquarters and warned explicitly: remain silent or face serious consequences.

The leather artisan is among those resisting a expensive project where one of India's largest slums – an iconic Mumbai neighborhood – faces demolished and redeveloped by a multinational conglomerate.

"The distinctive community of Dharavi is unparalleled in the world," explains the protester. "However their intention is to destroy our community and silence our voices."

Contrasting Realities

The narrow alleys of this community present a dramatic difference to the towering buildings and Bollywood penthouses that overshadow the area. Residences are built haphazardly and frequently missing basic amenities, unregulated industries produce dangerous fumes and the air is filled with the suffocating smell of open sewers.

For certain residents, the promise of a renewed Dharavi into a modern district of luxury high-rises, well-maintained green spaces, modern retail complexes and residences with proper sanitation is an optimistic future achieved.

"There's no sufficient health services, roads or drainage and there's nowhere for children to play," explains a chai seller, fifty-six, who moved from southern India in the early eighties. "The sole solution is to clear the area and provide modern residences."

Community Resistance

Yet certain residents, including this protester, are resisting the redevelopment.

None deny that this community, long neglected as unauthorized settlement, is in stark need financial support and improvement. However they worry that this project – without public consultation – might transform valuable urban land into a luxury development, displacing the marginalized, immigrant populations who have resided there since generations ago.

It was these excluded, migrant workers who developed the uninhabited area into a widely studied marvel of self-reliance and business activity, whose production is estimated at between $1m and two million dollars annually, making it a major unofficial markets.

Relocation Worries

Out of about one million residents living in the packed 2.2 square kilometer area, less than 50% will be qualified for new homes in the development, which is projected to take seven years to complete. Others will be moved to barren areas and coastal regions on the distant periphery of Mumbai, potentially divide a historic community. A portion will be denied residences at all.

Those allowed to continue living in Dharavi will be given flats in multi-story structures, a substantial change from the evolved, shared lifestyle of living and working that has maintained the community for generations.

Businesses from tailoring to pottery and recycling are likely to decrease in quantity and be moved to a designated "industrial sector" separated from people's residences.

Existential Threat

For residents like this protester, a workshop owner and third generation resident to reside in Dharavi, the redevelopment presents a fundamental risk. His makeshift, three-storey workshop makes leather coats – formal jackets, luxury coats, fashionable garments – sold in high-end shops in the city's affluent areas and internationally.

Relatives dwells in the rooms underneath and laborers and tailors – migrants from different regions – also sleep in the same building, enabling him to manage costs. Outside this community, accommodation prices are frequently significantly more expensive for minimal space.

Pressure and Coercion

At the government offices nearby, an illustrated mock-up of the redevelopment plan depicts an alternative outlook. Fashionable inhabitants mill about on two-wheelers and electric vehicles, buying continental baked goods and pastries and socializing on a patio outside Dharavi Cafe and Ice-Cream. This represents a complete departure from the 20-rupee idli sambar morning meal and low-cost tea that maintains the neighborhood.

"This is not development for residents," explains Shaikh. "This constitutes a massive property transaction that will render it impossible for us to survive."

Additionally, there exists skepticism of the corporate group. Headed by a powerful tycoon – a leading figure and a close ally of the government head – the conglomerate has faced accusations of preferential treatment and questionable practices, which it disputes.

While local authorities calls it a joint project, the corporation invested a significant amount for its controlling interest. Legal proceedings claiming that the redevelopment was unfairly awarded to the business group is pending in the nation's highest judicial body.

Ongoing Pressure

From when they initiated to publicly resist the project, protesters and community members claim they have been faced a long-running campaign of harassment and intimidation – including messages, clear intimidation and implications that opposing the initiative was tantamount to speaking against the country – by individuals they claim represent the developer.

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