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Across several weeks, threatening messages persisted. Initially, allegedly from an ex-law enforcement official and an ex-military commander, and then from law enforcement directly. Finally, one resident asserts he was ordered to the local precinct and told clearly: keep quiet or encounter real trouble.

This third-generation resident is part of a group opposing a high-value initiative where Dharavi – one of India’s largest and most storied slums – is scheduled to be demolished and redeveloped by a corporate giant.

"The culture of the slum is unparalleled in the planet," explains Shaikh. "But their intention is to eradicate our way of life and prevent our protests."

Contrasting Realities

The dank gullies of the slum sit in stark contrast to the soaring skyscrapers and elite residences that dominate the area. Residences are assembled randomly and typically without proper sanitation, informal businesses emit toxic smoke and the atmosphere is saturated with the suffocating smell of exposed drainage.

Among some individuals, the vision of a renewed Dharavi into a modern district of luxury high-rises, neat parks, contemporary malls and apartments with proper sanitation is an aspirational dream come true.

"There's no sufficient health services, roads or sewage systems and there are no spaces for children to play," explains a chai seller, 56, who moved from his home state in 1982. "The only way is to clear the area and provide modern residences."

Community Resistance

Yet certain residents, like Shaikh, are resisting the project.

Everyone acknowledges that this community, historically ignored as unauthorized settlement, is in stark need financial support and improvement. Yet they worry that this plan – lacking public consultation – could potentially turn premium city property into an elite enclave, displacing the lower-caste, immigrant populations who have resided there since the late 1800s.

It was these marginalized, migrant workers who developed the vacant wetlands into an extensively researched phenomenon of self-reliance and economic productivity, whose production is valued at between a significant amount and two million dollars per year, making it one of the world's largest unofficial markets.

Resettlement Issues

Among approximately 1 million residents living in the crowded 220-hectare zone, fewer than half will be eligible for replacement housing in the project, which is estimated to take seven years to accomplish. Others will be transferred to wastelands and saline fields on the remote edges of the metropolis, potentially break up a historic community. A portion will be denied residences at all.

Residents permitted to stay in the area will be allocated units in tower blocks, a significant rupture from the natural, communal way of residing and operating that has sustained the community for generations.

Industries from clothing production to ceramic crafts and material recovery are expected to shrink in number and be relocated to a designated "industrial sector" distant from homes.

Existential Threat

For those such as the leather artisan, a workshop owner and multi-generational inhabitant to call home the slum, the plan presents a survival challenge. His informal, multi-level workshop creates apparel – tailored coats, suede trenches, fashionable garments – marketed in luxury boutiques in south Mumbai and abroad.

Household members lives in the spaces underneath and employees and sewers – laborers from north India – live in the same building, allowing him to afford their labour. Outside this community, Mumbai rents are often tenfold more expensive for minimal space.

Threats and Warning

At the official facilities in the vicinity, an illustrated mock-up of the redevelopment plan illustrates a contrasting perspective. Well-groomed residents mill about on cycles and electric vehicles, buying international baguettes and pastries and enlisting beverages on a patio outside a coffee shop and dessert parlor. This represents a stark contrast from the 20-rupee idli sambar breakfast and budget beverage that sustains local residents.

"This is not improvement for residents," states the protester. "It's a massive land development that will make it unaffordable for our community to continue."

There is also skepticism of the corporate group. Run by an influential industrialist – one of India's most powerful and a supporter of the national leader – the conglomerate has been subject to claims of favoritism and financial impropriety, which it denies.

While local authorities calls it a partnership, the corporation contributed $950m for its majority share. Legal proceedings alleging that the project was unfairly awarded to the corporation is under review in India's supreme court.

Ongoing Pressure

Since they began to publicly resist the project, local opponents assert they have been faced an extended period of pressure and threats – comprising communications, clear intimidation and suggestions that criticizing the initiative was equivalent to opposing national interests – by figures they claim work for the corporate group.

Among those alleged to have making intimidations is {a retired police officer|a former law enforcement official|an ex-c