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Across several weeks, threatening messages recurred. Initially, supposedly from an ex-law enforcement official and a retired army general, later from law enforcement directly. Ultimately, Mohammad Khurshid Shaikh states he was ordered to the local precinct and told clearly: stop speaking out or face serious consequences.

This third-generation resident is part of a group resisting a multimillion-dollar initiative where Dharavi – one of India’s largest and most storied slums – will be bulldozed and redeveloped by a large business group.

"The distinctive community of Dharavi is unparalleled in the planet," explains the resident. "Yet the plan aims to destroy our way of life and prevent our protests."

Opposing Environments

The narrow alleys of this community sit in stark contrast to the towering buildings and Bollywood penthouses that overshadow the settlement. Homes are built haphazardly and often lacking adequate facilities, small-scale operations release harmful emissions and the atmosphere is permeated by the unpleasant stench of exposed drainage.

For certain residents, the promise of Dharavi transformed into a modern district of premium apartments, neat parks, contemporary malls and residences with multiple bathrooms is an aspirational dream come true.

"We don't have proper healthcare, roads or water management and we have no places for kids to enjoy," says A Selvin Nadar, 56, who moved from Tamil Nadu in the early eighties. "The only way is to clear the area and build us new homes."

Resident Opposition

But others, such as the leather artisan, are fighting against the redevelopment.

All recognize that this community, consistently overlooked as an illegal encroachment, is in stark need economic input and modernization. However they worry that this project – without resident participation – is one that will turn a piece of prime Mumbai real estate into a luxury development, forcing out the lower-caste, migrant communities who have resided there since generations ago.

These were these excluded, displaced people who developed the uninhabited area into an extensively researched phenomenon of self-reliance and commercial output, whose output is valued at between $1m and two million dollars per year, making it one of the world's largest unofficial markets.

Displacement Concerns

Out of about 1 million inhabitants living in the crowded 220-hectare neighborhood, a minority will be able for replacement housing in the redevelopment, which is projected to take seven years to accomplish. The remainder will be transferred to undeveloped zones and salt plains on the remote edges of Mumbai, potentially fragment a historic neighborhood. Some will receive no housing at all.

Those allowed to continue living in the neighborhood will be given flats in tower blocks, a major break from the natural, communal way of residing and operating that has maintained this area for so long.

Commercial activities from clothing production to ceramic crafts and material recovery are expected to decrease in quantity and be relocated to a specific "industrial sector" far from people's residences.

Livelihood Crisis

In the case of this protester, a workshop owner and third generation inhabitant to reside in the slum, the project presents a fundamental risk. His makeshift, multi-level workshop produces apparel – tailored coats, premium outerwear, decorated jackets – marketed in luxury boutiques in upscale neighborhoods and abroad.

Household members resides in the rooms underneath and laborers and sewers – laborers from north India – live on-site, permitting him to manage costs. Outside the slum, housing costs are typically 10 times costlier for a single room.

Harassment and Intimidation

Within the government offices close by, a conceptual model of the transformation initiative illustrates an alternative vision for the future. Fashionable inhabitants mill about on bicycles and e-vehicles, purchasing continental baguettes and breakfast items and having coffee on an outdoor area adjacent to a coffee shop and treat station. This represents a complete departure from the affordable idli sambar morning meal and budget beverage that supports Dharavi's community.

"This represents no development for us," says the protester. "This constitutes a massive land development that will make it unaffordable for residents to remain."

There is also distrust of the business conglomerate. Headed by a prominent businessman – a leading figure and a supporter of the Indian prime minister – the conglomerate has been subject to claims of crony capitalism and questionable practices, which it rejects.

Although the state government labels it a collaborative effort, the business group paid a significant amount for its controlling interest. Legal proceedings claiming that the redevelopment was unfairly awarded to the developer is being considered in the nation's highest judicial body.

Sustained Harassment

From when they initiated to publicly resist the development, protesters and community members claim they have been subjected to a long-running campaign of harassment and intimidation – involving communications, explicit warnings and suggestions that criticizing the project was equivalent to speaking against the country – by individuals they allege are associated with the business conglomerate.

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