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For months, coercive phone calls continued. At first, reportedly from an ex-law enforcement official and a retired army general, and then from the police themselves. In the end, a local artisan claims he was called to the local precinct and warned explicitly: remain silent or face serious consequences.

The leather artisan is among those resisting a expensive project where this historic settlement – a massive informal community with rich history – is scheduled to be bulldozed and transformed by a corporate giant.

"The culture of the slum is like nowhere else in the world," explains the protester. "Yet their intention is to eradicate our way of life and stop us speaking out."

Contrasting Realities

The cramped lanes of this community present a dramatic difference to the soaring skyscrapers and elite residences that dominate the settlement. Residences are constructed informally and typically lacking adequate facilities, informal businesses emit toxic smoke and the air is permeated by the unpleasant stench of open sewers.

For certain residents, the vision of Dharavi transformed into a modern district of luxury high-rises, neat parks, shiny shopping centers and residences with two toilets is a hopeful vision realized.

"We lack proper healthcare, roads or sewage systems and there's nowhere for children to play," explains a tea vendor, fifty-six, who migrated from southern India in that period. "The sole solution is to demolish everything and provide modern residences."

Local Protest

But others, like the leather artisan, are fighting against the plan.

None deny that the slum, long neglected as an illegal encroachment, is desperately requiring economic input and modernization. Yet they fear that this project – absent of resident participation – could potentially transform valuable urban land into a playground for the rich, forcing out the marginalized, immigrant populations who have lived there since the late 1800s.

It was these excluded, displaced people who established the empty marshland into a widely studied marvel of self-reliance and commercial output, whose production is estimated at between $1m and two million dollars annually, making it among the globe's biggest informal economies.

Relocation Worries

Among approximately 1 million people living in the packed 220-hectare zone, fewer than half will be able for new homes in the project, which is estimated to take seven years to accomplish. Additional residents will be relocated to wastelands and salt plains on the far outskirts of the city, risking divide a historic neighborhood. Certain individuals will be denied housing at all.

Those allowed to continue living in the area will be allocated apartments in tower blocks, a substantial change from the natural, shared lifestyle of dwelling and laboring that has sustained Dharavi for so long.

Industries from garment work to ceramic crafts and recycling are projected to decrease in quantity and be relocated to an allocated "business area" separated from residential areas.

Livelihood Crisis

For those such as Shaikh, a workshop owner and multi-generational of his family to live in Dharavi, the redevelopment presents an existential threat. His makeshift, three-storey operation creates leather coats – tailored coats, suede trenches, decorated jackets – sold in luxury boutiques in upscale neighborhoods and abroad.

His family dwells in the spaces below and his workers and sewers – workers from different regions – live in the same building, enabling him to sustain operations. Away from this community, accommodation prices are frequently significantly as high for minimal space.

Threats and Warning

At the government offices in the vicinity, a visual representation of the Dharavi project illustrates a contrasting vision for the future. Fashionable people move around on cycles and eco-friendly transport, acquiring international baguettes and pastries and enlisting beverages on an outdoor area adjacent to a restaurant and Ice-Cream. This represents a world away from the inexpensive idli sambar morning meal and budget beverage that maintains local residents.

"This represents no progress for us," states the artisan. "This constitutes a massive real estate deal that will price people out for our community to continue."

There is also distrust of the development company. Managed by a prominent businessman – one of India's most powerful and an associate of the Indian prime minister – the business group has faced accusations of favoritism and ethical concerns, which it disputes.

While the state government calls it a partnership, the business group contributed nearly a billion dollars for its 80% stake. A lawsuit alleging that the initiative was questionably assigned to the corporation is being considered in the top court.

Sustained Harassment

From when they initiated to publicly resist the development, protesters and community members state they have been subjected to ongoing efforts of harassment and intimidation – comprising phone calls, clear intimidation and implications that criticizing the initiative was comparable with speaking against the country – by individuals they allege are associated with the developer.

Part of the group accused of delivering warnings is {a retired police officer|a former law enforcement official|an ex-c