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For months, threatening communications continued. At first, supposedly from a retired cop and an ex-military commander, subsequently from law enforcement directly. Ultimately, a local artisan asserts he was ordered to the local precinct and warned explicitly: stop speaking out or face serious consequences.

This third-generation resident is among those resisting a multimillion-dollar initiative where this historic settlement – one of India’s largest and most storied slums – is scheduled to be razed and modernized by a multinational conglomerate.

"The distinctive community of Dharavi is exceptional in the world," says the protester. "However their intention is to dismantle our community and prevent our protests."

Dual Worlds

The narrow alleys of Dharavi present a dramatic difference to the soaring skyscrapers and Bollywood penthouses that overshadow the neighborhood. Dwellings are constructed informally and typically lacking adequate facilities, small-scale operations emit toxic smoke and the air is saturated with the overpowering odor of exposed drainage.

Among some individuals, the promise of Dharavi transformed into a developed area of luxury high-rises, organized recreational areas, shiny shopping centers and apartments with proper sanitation is a hopeful vision realized.

"There's no adequate medical facilities, proper streets or water management and there are no spaces for youth to recreate," states a chai seller, fifty-six, who moved from Tamil Nadu in the early eighties. "The only way is to demolish everything and construct proper housing."

Local Protest

But others, such as this protester, are fighting against the project.

Everyone acknowledges that this community, historically ignored as an illegal encroachment, is desperately requiring investment and development. Yet they worry that this plan – lacking resident participation – could potentially convert valuable urban land into an elite enclave, forcing out the disadvantaged, immigrant populations who have lived there since generations ago.

These were these shunned, migrant workers who developed the vacant wetlands into a frequently examined example of local enterprise and commercial output, whose output is estimated at between one million dollars and $2m annually, making it a major unregulated sectors.

Resettlement Issues

Out of about a million people living in the packed 220-hectare area, a minority will be eligible for new homes in the project, which is estimated to take seven years to finish. The remainder will be moved to wastelands and salt plains on the far outskirts of the city, threatening to fragment a generations-old social network. Certain individuals will be denied housing at all.

People eligible to continue living in the neighborhood will be given apartments in multi-story structures, a significant rupture from the natural, collective approach of dwelling and laboring that has maintained the community for many years.

Commercial activities from clothing production to ceramic crafts and waste processing are expected to decrease in quantity and be relocated to a designated "business area" distant from people's residences.

Survival Challenge

For residents like this protester, a workshop owner and long-time resident to reside in this community, the plan presents an existential threat. His makeshift, multi-level workshop makes apparel – formal jackets, luxury coats, decorated jackets – marketed in premium stores in the city's affluent areas and abroad.

Relatives resides in the rooms underneath and employees and garment workers – migrants from north India – also sleep on-site, allowing him to manage costs. Away from this community, Mumbai rents are frequently tenfold costlier for a single room.

Pressure and Coercion

Within the administrative buildings nearby, a conceptual model of the redevelopment plan depicts an alternative vision for the future. Fashionable residents move around on cycles and electric vehicles, acquiring continental baked goods and croissants and having coffee on an outdoor area near Dharavi Cafe and treat station. This depicts a world away from the inexpensive idli sambar first meal and budget beverage that sustains Dharavi's community.

"This is not development for us," explains the protester. "This constitutes a huge property transaction that will price people out for residents to remain."

Additionally, there exists concern of the corporate group. Run by a prominent businessman – one of India's most powerful and a supporter of the government head – the conglomerate has faced accusations of favoritism and ethical concerns, which it denies.

While the state government calls it a collaborative effort, the business group invested $950m for its majority share. A lawsuit stating that the redevelopment was improperly granted to the developer is pending in India's supreme court.

Sustained Harassment

Since they began to actively protest the project, protesters and community members claim they have been faced a long-running campaign of coercion and warning – comprising messages, clear intimidation and implications that speaking against the initiative was comparable with speaking against the country – by people they assert work for the corporate group.

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