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Over an extended period, threatening messages persisted. At first, allegedly from a retired cop and a former defense officer, later from law enforcement directly. In the end, a local artisan asserts he was summoned to law enforcement headquarters and told clearly: remain silent or experience severe repercussions.

This third-generation resident is one of many fighting a multimillion-dollar initiative where Dharavi – a massive informal community with rich history – faces bulldozed and redeveloped by a large business group.

"The distinctive community of this area is like nowhere else in the world," explains the protester. "But the plan aims to destroy our social fabric and stop us speaking out."

Opposing Environments

The narrow alleys of the slum stand in sharp opposition to the soaring skyscrapers and luxury apartments that loom over the area. Homes are constructed informally and frequently lacking adequate facilities, informal businesses release harmful emissions and the atmosphere is filled with the unpleasant stench of open sewers.

Among some individuals, the promise of the slum's redevelopment into a developed area of premium apartments, well-maintained green spaces, modern retail complexes and homes with two toilets is an optimistic future realized.

"We lack sufficient health services, roads or water management and there's nowhere for youth to recreate," explains a tea vendor, fifty-six, who moved from southern India in that period. "The single option is to clear the area and construct proper housing."

Community Resistance

But others, including this protester, are fighting against the plan.

None deny that the slum, historically ignored as informal housing, is desperately requiring financial support and improvement. Yet they worry that this plan – lacking community input – is one that will turn valuable urban land into an elite enclave, displacing the marginalized, migrant communities who have been there since the late 1800s.

This involved these excluded, displaced people who established the vacant wetlands into a frequently examined example of self-reliance and business activity, whose output is estimated at between a significant amount and a substantial sum per year, making it one of the world's largest unregulated sectors.

Displacement Concerns

Out of about one million inhabitants living in the crowded sprawling zone, fewer than half will be able for replacement housing in the project, which is estimated to take a significant period to complete. Additional residents will be transferred to barren areas and coastal regions on the far outskirts of Mumbai, threatening to break up a long-established social network. Some will not get homes at all.

People eligible to remain in the neighborhood will be provided apartments in high-rise buildings, a significant rupture from the natural, communal way of living and working that has sustained the community for so long.

Industries from garment work to ceramic crafts and waste processing are likely to decrease in quantity and be moved to an allocated "business area" far from residential areas.

Livelihood Crisis

For those such as the leather artisan, a leather artisan and third generation resident to live in Dharavi, the project presents a fundamental risk. His rickety, multi-level operation makes apparel – tailored coats, suede trenches, decorated jackets – distributed in high-end shops in south Mumbai and internationally.

His family resides in the rooms below and laborers and tailors – workers from other states – live in the same building, permitting him to manage costs. Beyond Dharavi's enclave, accommodation prices are typically tenfold as high for minimal space.

Harassment and Intimidation

At the government offices in the vicinity, a conceptual model of the transformation initiative illustrates an alternative vision for the future. Fashionable people move around on two-wheelers and electric vehicles, purchasing western-style bread and breakfast items and socializing on a terrace near a restaurant and dessert parlor. It is a world away from the inexpensive idli sambar breakfast and 5-rupee chai that maintains local residents.

"This isn't development for our community," explains the artisan. "It's a huge real estate deal that will make it unaffordable for residents to remain."

Furthermore, there's concern of the development company. Managed by a prominent businessman – a leading figure and a supporter of the national leader – the corporation has faced accusations of favoritism and questionable practices, which it disputes.

Although administrative bodies describes it as a collaborative effort, the corporation contributed $950m for its 80% stake. Legal proceedings stating that the redevelopment was improperly granted to the corporation is being considered in the nation's highest judicial body.

Continued Intimidation

After they started to actively protest the development, protesters and community members state they have been faced ongoing efforts of pressure and threats – including messages, direct threats and suggestions that speaking against the development was comparable with speaking against the country – by figures they assert represent the corporate group.

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