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Across several weeks, intimidating messages persisted. Initially, allegedly from a former police officer and an ex-military commander, subsequently from law enforcement directly. Finally, one resident states he was ordered to law enforcement headquarters and instructed bluntly: remain silent or encounter real trouble.

This third-generation resident is among those resisting a high-value redevelopment plan where one of India's largest slums – one of India’s largest and most storied slums – faces demolished and modernized by a corporate giant.

"The unique ecosystem of the slum is like nowhere else in the planet," states Shaikh. "Yet the plan aims to eradicate our social fabric and silence our voices."

Dual Worlds

The cramped lanes of this community present a dramatic difference to the soaring skyscrapers and Bollywood penthouses that dominate the settlement. Residences are assembled randomly and typically lacking adequate facilities, small-scale operations produce dangerous fumes and the air is filled with the overpowering odor of exposed drainage.

Among some individuals, the vision of the slum's redevelopment into a glistening neighborhood of luxury high-rises, organized recreational areas, modern retail complexes and residences with two toilets is an aspirational dream come true.

"There's no adequate medical facilities, roads or water management and there are no spaces for kids to enjoy," explains a tea vendor, in his fifties, who moved from his home state in the early eighties. "The single option is to clear the area and provide modern residences."

Resident Opposition

Yet certain residents, including this protester, are opposing the redevelopment.

All recognize that this community, historically ignored as unauthorized settlement, is urgently needing economic input and modernization. Yet they fear that this project – absent of community input – could potentially convert valuable urban land into an elite enclave, displacing the lower-caste, migrant communities who have resided there since the nineteenth century.

It was these excluded, relocated individuals who built up the empty marshland into a widely studied marvel of self-reliance and economic productivity, whose output is worth between a significant amount and $2m a year, making it among the globe's biggest unregulated sectors.

Relocation Worries

Out of about 1 million people living in the dense sprawling neighborhood, less than 50% will be qualified for alternative accommodation in the redevelopment, which is projected to take seven years to finish. The remainder will be moved to barren areas and salt plains on the far outskirts of the metropolis, risking break up a generations-old social network. A portion will be denied housing at all.

People eligible to continue living in Dharavi will be given units in high-rise buildings, a major break from the evolved, communal way of living and working that has sustained Dharavi for many years.

Commercial activities from tailoring to clay work and recycling are likely to shrink in number and be relocated to a specific "business area" far from homes.

Livelihood Crisis

In the case of the leather artisan, a leather artisan and third generation inhabitant to reside in this community, the plan presents an existential threat. His informal, three-floor facility produces garments – formal jackets, suede trenches, fashionable garments – marketed in luxury boutiques in the city's affluent areas and internationally.

Household members dwells in the rooms underneath and laborers and garment workers – workers from different regions – also sleep in the same building, allowing him to sustain operations. Beyond Dharavi's enclave, Mumbai rents are often 10 times more expensive for a single room.

Threats and Warning

Within the government offices close by, an illustrated mock-up of the redevelopment plan shows a very different outlook. Well-groomed inhabitants mill about on two-wheelers and electric vehicles, acquiring continental baked goods and breakfast items and socializing on a patio outside Dharavi Cafe and dessert parlor. It is a complete departure from the 20-rupee idli sambar breakfast and budget beverage that maintains local residents.

"This isn't improvement for our community," states the artisan. "It's a huge real estate deal that will make it unaffordable for us to survive."

Furthermore, there's distrust of the business conglomerate. Managed by a prominent businessman – one of India's most powerful and a close ally of the government head – the conglomerate has encountered allegations of favoritism and questionable practices, which it disputes.

Even as the state government calls it a partnership, the business group paid nearly a billion dollars for its controlling interest. A lawsuit claiming that the project was questionably assigned to the business group is being considered in India's supreme court.

Ongoing Pressure

Since they began to vocally oppose the redevelopment, Shaikh and other residents state they have been subjected to a long-running campaign of coercion and warning – comprising communications, direct threats and insinuations that speaking against the development was equivalent to anti-national sentiment – by figures they allege represent the developer.

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