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Over an extended period, intimidating phone calls continued. At first, supposedly from a former police officer and a former defense officer, and then from the police themselves. Finally, a local artisan asserts he was ordered to the police station and warned explicitly: stop speaking out or face serious consequences.

The leather artisan is one of many fighting a high-value initiative where Dharavi – a massive informal community with rich history – will be razed and transformed by a multinational conglomerate.

"The distinctive community of the slum is exceptional in the globe," states the resident. "Yet the plan aims to dismantle our community and stop us speaking out."

Contrasting Realities

The narrow alleys of Dharavi sit in stark contrast to the soaring skyscrapers and Bollywood penthouses that overshadow the area. Homes are assembled randomly and frequently lacking adequate facilities, unregulated industries release harmful emissions and the air is permeated by the overpowering odor of uncovered waste channels.

To some, the prospect of Dharavi transformed into a developed area of luxury high-rises, well-maintained green spaces, shiny shopping centers and apartments with two toilets is a hopeful vision come true.

"There's no adequate medical facilities, proper streets or sewage systems and we have no places for youth to recreate," explains A Selvin Nadar, fifty-six, who relocated from his home state in 1982. "The sole solution is to demolish everything and build us new homes."

Resident Opposition

Yet certain residents, such as this protester, are opposing the redevelopment.

Everyone acknowledges that the slum, long neglected as informal housing, is desperately requiring economic input and modernization. Yet they worry that this plan – lacking public consultation – could potentially convert premium city property into a luxury development, displacing the disadvantaged, migrant communities who have been there since generations ago.

It was these marginalized, displaced people who developed the vacant wetlands into a frequently examined example of community resilience and commercial output, whose production is estimated at between a significant amount and a substantial sum a year, making it one of the world's largest informal economies.

Resettlement Issues

Out of about one million people living in the crowded sprawling area, a minority will be eligible for replacement housing in the project, which is projected to take a significant period to accomplish. Additional residents will be relocated to wastelands and coastal regions on the remote edges of Mumbai, threatening to fragment a generations-old community. Some will not get residences at all.

Those allowed to stay in the area will be allocated units in tower blocks, a substantial change from the evolved, shared lifestyle of living and working that has supported the community for so long.

Commercial activities from tailoring to ceramic crafts and material recovery are projected to reduce in scale and be transferred to a specific "industrial sector" separated from residential areas.

Survival Challenge

In the case of Shaikh, a craftsman and long-time of his family to reside in this community, the redevelopment presents an existential threat. His makeshift, multi-level operation creates leather coats – formal jackets, premium outerwear, fashionable garments – distributed in premium stores in south Mumbai and internationally.

His family lives in the accommodations below and employees and tailors – laborers from north India – reside on-site, allowing him to sustain operations. Outside this community, accommodation prices are frequently 10 times costlier for basic accommodation.

Threats and Warning

In the government offices in the vicinity, a visual representation of the Dharavi project shows an alternative perspective. Fashionable residents mill about on two-wheelers and electric vehicles, buying continental baked goods and croissants and having coffee on a patio outside a restaurant and Ice-Cream. This represents a world away from the 20-rupee idli sambar breakfast and 5-rupee chai that sustains Dharavi's community.

"This is not development for us," explains Shaikh. "It represents a huge property transaction that will render it impossible for residents to remain."

Furthermore, there's skepticism of the corporate group. Run by a powerful tycoon – a leading figure and a supporter of the government head – the conglomerate has been subject to claims of preferential treatment and questionable practices, which it rejects.

Even as local authorities calls it a partnership, the business group contributed $950m for its 80% stake. A lawsuit claiming that the initiative was unfairly awarded to the developer is pending in the top court.

Sustained Harassment

Since they began to actively protest the project, protesters and community members state they have been subjected to a long-running campaign of harassment and intimidation – involving communications, clear intimidation and suggestions that opposing the initiative was comparable with anti-national sentiment – by people they assert work for the corporate group.

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