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Across several weeks, threatening phone calls continued. At first, supposedly from a retired cop and an ex-military commander, and then from law enforcement directly. In the end, one resident claims he was ordered to law enforcement headquarters and told clearly: remain silent or experience severe repercussions.

The leather artisan is among those resisting a multimillion-dollar initiative where one of India's largest slums – one of India’s largest and most storied slums – will be razed and redeveloped by a corporate giant.

"The culture of this area is exceptional in the planet," says the resident. "But they want to destroy our community and stop us speaking out."

Contrasting Realities

The dank gullies of Dharavi present a dramatic difference to the high-rise structures and Bollywood penthouses that loom over the area. Residences are built haphazardly and often without proper sanitation, informal businesses release harmful emissions and the atmosphere is saturated with the unpleasant stench of open sewers.

To some, the prospect of Dharavi transformed into a developed area of premium apartments, neat parks, shiny shopping centers and residences with proper sanitation is an aspirational dream realized.

"We lack sufficient health services, paved pathways or sewage systems and there are no spaces for children to play," states a tea vendor, in his fifties, who moved from southern India in that period. "The only way is to clear the area and construct proper housing."

Community Resistance

Yet certain residents, like the leather artisan, are opposing the redevelopment.

None deny that this community, consistently overlooked as informal housing, is desperately requiring investment and development. However they fear that this plan – lacking community input – might convert premium city property into a playground for the rich, evicting the disadvantaged, immigrant populations who have been there since the late 1800s.

This involved these shunned, migrant workers who established the vacant wetlands into an extensively researched phenomenon of self-reliance and business activity, whose output is estimated at between one million dollars and $2m a year, making it among the globe's biggest informal economies.

Resettlement Issues

Of the roughly 1 million residents living in the packed 2.2 square kilometer zone, fewer than half will be eligible for alternative accommodation in the redevelopment, which is estimated to take seven years to complete. Others will be transferred to wastelands and salt plains on the distant periphery of the city, potentially break up a long-established social network. Some will be denied homes at all.

Residents permitted to stay in Dharavi will be provided units in tower blocks, a significant rupture from the natural, communal way of residing and operating that has maintained the community for generations.

Businesses from garment work to pottery and recycling are expected to shrink in number and be transferred to a specific "business area" separated from homes.

Survival Challenge

In the case of the leather artisan, a leather artisan and multi-generational inhabitant to call home Dharavi, the project presents a survival challenge. His rickety, three-floor facility makes garments – tailored coats, luxury coats, fashionable garments – sold in high-end shops in the city's affluent areas and overseas.

Relatives dwells in the rooms downstairs and his workers and sewers – laborers from north India – live in the same building, allowing him to afford their labour. Beyond Dharavi's enclave, housing costs are often significantly costlier for minimal space.

Pressure and Coercion

In the government offices nearby, a visual representation of the Dharavi project illustrates a very different perspective. Well-groomed residents move around on two-wheelers and eco-friendly transport, acquiring continental baked goods and croissants and enlisting beverages on a terrace near a coffee shop and dessert parlor. This depicts a world away from the affordable idli sambar morning meal and low-cost tea that maintains local residents.

"This is not improvement for residents," explains the protester. "It represents a massive property transaction that will make it unaffordable for our community to continue."

Furthermore, there's skepticism of the development company. Managed by a prominent businessman – one of India's most powerful and an associate of the government head – the conglomerate has faced accusations of crony capitalism and ethical concerns, which it denies.

While administrative bodies describes it as a partnership, the business group contributed $950m for its 80% stake. Legal proceedings alleging that the project was questionably assigned to the business group is under review in India's supreme court.

Sustained Harassment

Since they began to publicly resist the redevelopment, local opponents state they have been experienced ongoing efforts of coercion and warning – involving communications, direct threats and suggestions that opposing the development was tantamount to opposing national interests – by figures they allege are associated with the corporate group.

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