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For months, intimidating phone calls persisted. Initially, supposedly from a former police officer and an ex-military commander, and then from the police themselves. Finally, a local artisan states he was called to the police station and told clearly: stop speaking out or experience severe repercussions.

The leather artisan is among those opposing a high-value initiative where one of India's largest slums – one of India’s largest and most storied slums – is scheduled to be razed and modernized by a large business group.

"The unique ecosystem of the slum is exceptional in the world," explains the protester. "But they want to dismantle our way of life and silence our voices."

Dual Worlds

The cramped lanes of Dharavi stand in sharp opposition to the towering buildings and elite residences that overshadow the settlement. Residences are built haphazardly and typically missing basic amenities, small-scale operations produce dangerous fumes and the environment is filled with the suffocating smell of exposed drainage.

To some, the vision of the slum's redevelopment into a glistening neighborhood of premium apartments, neat parks, modern retail complexes and residences with multiple bathrooms is an aspirational dream achieved.

"We lack adequate medical facilities, paved pathways or water management and we have no places for youth to recreate," explains a tea vendor, fifty-six, who relocated from Tamil Nadu in that period. "The sole solution is to clear the area and construct proper housing."

Community Resistance

However, some, including the leather artisan, are fighting against the project.

None deny that the slum, historically ignored as informal housing, is in stark need economic input and modernization. But they worry that this plan – lacking community input – might turn premium city property into a playground for the rich, forcing out the disadvantaged, immigrant populations who have been there since the late 1800s.

These were these shunned, relocated individuals who built up the empty marshland into a frequently examined example of local enterprise and commercial output, whose output is worth between one million dollars and a substantial sum annually, making it one of the world's largest unregulated sectors.

Resettlement Issues

Among approximately 1 million inhabitants living in the dense 220-hectare zone, fewer than half will be qualified for alternative accommodation in the redevelopment, which is projected to take a significant period to finish. Others will be moved to undeveloped zones and salt plains on the distant periphery of the city, risking break up a long-established social network. Some will not get housing at all.

Residents permitted to continue living in the area will be provided flats in tower blocks, a significant rupture from the evolved, collective approach of living and working that has maintained this area for so long.

Commercial activities from tailoring to ceramic crafts and waste processing are expected to shrink in number and be relocated to an allocated "commercial zone" separated from residential areas.

Livelihood Crisis

For those such as the leather artisan, a workshop owner and long-time of his family to reside in this community, the project presents a survival challenge. His rickety, three-floor workshop creates garments – sharp blazers, premium outerwear, fashionable garments – distributed in luxury boutiques in south Mumbai and internationally.

Household members lives in the accommodations downstairs and his workers and tailors – workers from other states – reside in the same building, enabling him to manage costs. Beyond Dharavi's enclave, Mumbai rents are frequently significantly more expensive for minimal space.

Pressure and Coercion

Within the government offices nearby, an illustrated mock-up of the Dharavi project shows a contrasting outlook. Slickly dressed people gather on bicycles and eco-friendly transport, acquiring western-style baguettes and croissants and having coffee on an outdoor area near a restaurant and Ice-Cream. This represents a world away from the inexpensive idli sambar morning meal and 5-rupee chai that supports the neighborhood.

"This isn't improvement for our community," says the artisan. "This constitutes a massive land development that will price people out for us to survive."

Furthermore, there's concern of the development company. Headed by a prominent businessman – among the country's wealthiest and an associate of the national leader – the corporation has been subject to claims of preferential treatment and ethical concerns, which it disputes.

While local authorities calls it a partnership, the developer contributed nearly a billion dollars for its majority share. Legal proceedings claiming that the project was improperly granted to the developer is being considered in the top court.

Ongoing Pressure

After they started to actively protest the redevelopment, protesters and community members state they have been faced an extended period of harassment and intimidation – comprising phone calls, clear intimidation and insinuations that criticizing the development was equivalent to anti-national sentiment – by individuals they allege work for the developer.

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