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Across several weeks, threatening phone calls continued. Originally, supposedly from an ex-law enforcement official and a retired army general, and then from the authorities. Ultimately, a local artisan asserts he was called to law enforcement headquarters and warned explicitly: remain silent or experience severe repercussions.

The leather artisan is among those resisting a expensive redevelopment plan where one of India's largest slums – one of India’s largest and most storied slums – faces bulldozed and modernized by a multinational conglomerate.

"The unique ecosystem of the slum is unparalleled in the world," says the resident. "However the plan aims to destroy our way of life and prevent our protests."

Contrasting Realities

The narrow alleys of this community present a dramatic difference to the towering buildings and Bollywood penthouses that loom over the area. Dwellings are constructed informally and typically without proper sanitation, unregulated industries produce dangerous fumes and the air is saturated with the suffocating smell of exposed drainage.

To some, the promise of Dharavi transformed into a developed area of high-end towers, organized recreational areas, shiny shopping centers and homes with proper sanitation is a hopeful vision realized.

"There's no sufficient health services, proper streets or drainage and we have no places for kids to enjoy," states A Selvin Nadar, 56, who moved from Tamil Nadu in the early eighties. "The sole solution is to demolish everything and construct proper housing."

Community Resistance

However, some, including the leather artisan, are resisting the project.

All recognize that the slum, long neglected as an illegal encroachment, is desperately requiring investment and development. But they are concerned that this initiative – absent of public consultation – might convert a piece of prime Mumbai real estate into a playground for the rich, forcing out the marginalized, immigrant populations who have resided there since the nineteenth century.

It was these shunned, displaced people who established the empty marshland into an extensively researched phenomenon of self-reliance and commercial output, whose economic value is worth between a significant amount and two million dollars per year, making it among the globe's biggest unregulated sectors.

Displacement Concerns

Out of about one million people living in the crowded 2.2 square kilometer neighborhood, less than 50% will be qualified for replacement housing in the redevelopment, which is estimated to take a significant period to finish. Others will be relocated to barren areas and salt plains on the far outskirts of Mumbai, risking break up a generations-old neighborhood. A portion will be denied homes at all.

Those allowed to remain in Dharavi will be given apartments in high-rise buildings, a major break from the evolved, communal way of living and working that has maintained Dharavi for many years.

Businesses from clothing production to ceramic crafts and waste processing are expected to reduce in scale and be transferred to a specific "commercial zone" distant from residential areas.

Livelihood Crisis

In the case of Shaikh, a craftsman and long-time resident to live in Dharavi, the project presents an existential threat. His rickety, multi-level facility produces garments – sharp blazers, premium outerwear, studded bomber jackets – sold in high-end shops in south Mumbai and abroad.

His family resides in the rooms underneath and laborers and tailors – workers from different regions – reside there, enabling him to manage costs. Away from Dharavi's enclave, housing costs are typically significantly as high for basic accommodation.

Pressure and Coercion

In the administrative buildings close by, a visual representation of the Dharavi project shows a very different perspective. Well-groomed inhabitants mill about on two-wheelers and electric vehicles, buying international baked goods and croissants and socializing on a patio adjacent to Dharavi Cafe and dessert parlor. It is a complete departure from the affordable idli sambar first meal and budget beverage that maintains Dharavi's community.

"This isn't improvement for residents," says Shaikh. "It represents an enormous real estate deal that will render it impossible for our community to continue."

Furthermore, there's concern of the business conglomerate. Run by a prominent businessman – one of India's most powerful and a supporter of the Indian prime minister – the business group has encountered allegations of favoritism and ethical concerns, which it disputes.

While local authorities labels it a partnership, the business group paid $950m for its 80% stake. A lawsuit alleging that the initiative was questionably assigned to the corporation is pending in India's supreme court.

Continued Intimidation

Since they began to publicly resist the redevelopment, protesters and community members state they have been faced a long-running campaign of harassment and intimidation – involving phone calls, clear intimidation and suggestions that criticizing the project was equivalent to anti-national sentiment – by figures they assert work for the developer.

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