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Over an extended period, threatening messages continued. Initially, reportedly from an ex-law enforcement official and a retired army general, and then from the authorities. In the end, one resident asserts he was summoned to the police station and told clearly: keep quiet or encounter real trouble.

This third-generation resident is among those resisting a expensive initiative where one of India's largest slums – a massive informal community with rich history – is scheduled to be razed and redeveloped by a multinational conglomerate.

"The unique ecosystem of Dharavi is unparalleled in the planet," states the protester. "But their intention is to destroy our way of life and prevent our protests."

Opposing Environments

The dank gullies of Dharavi sit in stark contrast to the high-rise structures and elite residences that overshadow the neighborhood. Homes are constructed informally and frequently missing basic amenities, unregulated industries produce dangerous fumes and the air is filled with the suffocating smell of uncovered waste channels.

For certain residents, the prospect of Dharavi transformed into a modern district of premium apartments, organized recreational areas, modern retail complexes and homes with proper sanitation is a hopeful vision realized.

"We don't have proper healthcare, roads or water management and there's nowhere for youth to recreate," states a chai seller, in his fifties, who relocated from his home state in the early eighties. "The only way is to demolish everything and build us new homes."

Local Protest

However, some, such as Shaikh, are opposing the project.

None deny that Dharavi, historically ignored as an illegal encroachment, is urgently needing economic input and modernization. However they worry that this plan – lacking community input – is one that will transform a piece of prime Mumbai real estate into a playground for the rich, displacing the lower-caste, immigrant populations who have resided there since the nineteenth century.

This involved these excluded, migrant workers who established the uninhabited area into an extensively researched phenomenon of self-reliance and economic productivity, whose economic value is valued at between $1m and two million dollars a year, making it one of the world's largest unofficial markets.

Displacement Concerns

Out of about 1 million people living in the packed 2.2 square kilometer neighborhood, less than 50% will be eligible for new homes in the project, which is estimated to take a significant period to accomplish. The remainder will be moved to undeveloped zones and salt plains on the distant periphery of the city, threatening to fragment a historic neighborhood. A portion will be denied housing at all.

Those allowed to stay in Dharavi will be provided apartments in tower blocks, a substantial change from the evolved, collective approach of residing and operating that has sustained the community for generations.

Commercial activities from garment work to clay work and waste processing are projected to shrink in number and be transferred to a designated "industrial sector" separated from people's residences.

Survival Challenge

In the case of this protester, a craftsman and third generation inhabitant to live in the slum, the project presents a fundamental risk. His rickety, multi-level workshop makes leather coats – sharp blazers, luxury coats, decorated jackets – marketed in premium stores in south Mumbai and abroad.

Relatives resides in the rooms below and employees and garment workers – laborers from other states – also sleep on-site, enabling him to manage costs. Away from this community, Mumbai rents are frequently tenfold costlier for a single room.

Threats and Warning

Within the government offices nearby, an illustrated mock-up of the transformation initiative shows an alternative vision for the future. Well-groomed inhabitants gather on two-wheelers and electric vehicles, buying western-style baguettes and breakfast items and having coffee on an outdoor area outside a coffee shop and treat station. It is a complete departure from the 20-rupee idli sambar first meal and low-cost tea that supports Dharavi's community.

"This represents no improvement for us," explains Shaikh. "It represents an enormous land development that will render it impossible for our community to continue."

Additionally, there exists concern of the corporate group. Run by a prominent businessman – a leading figure and a close ally of the government head – the conglomerate has been subject to claims of favoritism and financial impropriety, which it denies.

While the state government calls it a partnership, the developer invested $950m for its 80% stake. A lawsuit alleging that the project was questionably assigned to the developer is under review in the nation's highest judicial body.

Sustained Harassment

Since they began to actively protest the project, protesters and community members claim they have been subjected to a long-running campaign of coercion and warning – comprising phone calls, clear intimidation and insinuations that speaking against the initiative was equivalent to speaking against the country – by individuals they claim work for the business conglomerate.

Included in these alleged to have delivering warnings is {a retired police officer|a former law enforcement official|an ex-c