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For months, threatening phone calls recurred. Initially, allegedly from a retired cop and a former defense officer, and then from the authorities. Ultimately, one resident claims he was ordered to law enforcement headquarters and told clearly: remain silent or encounter real trouble.

This third-generation resident is part of a group fighting a high-value project where Dharavi – one of India’s largest and most storied slums – will be demolished and redeveloped by a multinational conglomerate.

"The culture of this area is unparalleled in the world," states the resident. "However they want to eradicate our community and silence our voices."

Opposing Environments

The dank gullies of the slum present a dramatic difference to the towering buildings and luxury apartments that loom over the area. Residences are constructed informally and frequently lacking adequate facilities, unregulated industries emit toxic smoke and the air is permeated by the unpleasant stench of exposed drainage.

For certain residents, the prospect of Dharavi transformed into a glistening neighborhood of luxury high-rises, well-maintained green spaces, shiny shopping centers and apartments with two toilets is an aspirational dream come true.

"There's no adequate medical facilities, proper streets or sewage systems and there's nowhere for kids to enjoy," says A Selvin Nadar, in his fifties, who moved from southern India in the early eighties. "The only way is to clear the area and build us new homes."

Resident Opposition

However, some, including the leather artisan, are resisting the project.

All recognize that Dharavi, long neglected as unauthorized settlement, is in stark need investment and development. But they worry that this plan – without resident participation – is one that will convert a piece of prime Mumbai real estate into a luxury development, displacing the disadvantaged, migrant communities who have lived there since the late 1800s.

This involved these shunned, migrant workers who built up the uninhabited area into a widely studied marvel of self-reliance and commercial output, whose output is valued at between $1m and two million dollars a year, making it among the globe's biggest informal economies.

Displacement Concerns

Among approximately 1 million residents living in the crowded sprawling zone, fewer than half will be able for replacement housing in the development, which is estimated to take seven years to finish. Others will be moved to barren areas and coastal regions on the distant periphery of Mumbai, potentially fragment a historic social network. A portion will not get homes at all.

People eligible to continue living in Dharavi will be allocated flats in high-rise buildings, a major break from the evolved, collective approach of dwelling and laboring that has supported the community for so long.

Businesses from clothing production to pottery and material recovery are likely to reduce in scale and be relocated to a designated "industrial sector" separated from residential areas.

Livelihood Crisis

For those such as the leather artisan, a leather artisan and multi-generational resident to live in this community, the plan presents an existential threat. His rickety, three-storey facility makes leather coats – formal jackets, suede trenches, decorated jackets – distributed in high-end shops in upscale neighborhoods and abroad.

His family dwells in the accommodations underneath and laborers and tailors – migrants from different regions – live in the same building, allowing him to sustain operations. Away from the slum, housing costs are typically 10 times as high for a single room.

Pressure and Coercion

In the government offices nearby, a visual representation of the redevelopment plan depicts a very different vision for the future. Well-groomed people mill about on two-wheelers and e-vehicles, buying continental bread and breakfast items and having coffee on an outdoor area near Dharavi Cafe and treat station. This represents a stark contrast from the inexpensive idli sambar morning meal and 5-rupee chai that sustains local residents.

"This represents no development for us," states the protester. "It's a massive land development that will price people out for residents to remain."

Furthermore, there's concern of the development company. Headed by a powerful tycoon – a leading figure and an associate of the government head – the corporation has been subject to claims of preferential treatment and ethical concerns, which it disputes.

While administrative bodies labels it a joint project, the business group invested $950m for its 80% stake. A lawsuit alleging that the project was questionably assigned to the business group is under review in the nation's highest judicial body.

Ongoing Pressure

Since they began to publicly resist the development, protesters and community members claim they have been faced a long-running campaign of harassment and intimidation – involving messages, direct threats and suggestions that criticizing the initiative was tantamount to speaking against the country – by individuals they allege represent the corporate group.

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