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Over an extended period, intimidating phone calls persisted. At first, reportedly from an ex-law enforcement official and an ex-military commander, subsequently from the authorities. Ultimately, one resident asserts he was summoned to the police station and told clearly: remain silent or face serious consequences.

The leather artisan is part of a group opposing a high-value project where one of India's largest slums – a massive informal community with rich history – is scheduled to be razed and transformed by a multinational conglomerate.

"The distinctive community of the slum is like nowhere else in the planet," explains Shaikh. "But their intention is to destroy our social fabric and prevent our protests."

Contrasting Realities

The cramped lanes of the slum sit in stark contrast to the soaring skyscrapers and Bollywood penthouses that loom over the neighborhood. Residences are built haphazardly and typically missing basic amenities, unregulated industries produce dangerous fumes and the environment is filled with the unpleasant stench of exposed drainage.

Among some individuals, the prospect of Dharavi transformed into a developed area of luxury high-rises, well-maintained green spaces, shiny shopping centers and apartments with two toilets is a hopeful vision come true.

"We don't have sufficient health services, proper streets or drainage and we have no places for children to play," says A Selvin Nadar, fifty-six, who moved from Tamil Nadu in that period. "The only way is to demolish everything and provide modern residences."

Local Protest

However, some, such as the leather artisan, are fighting against the project.

Everyone acknowledges that the slum, consistently overlooked as unauthorized settlement, is desperately requiring economic input and modernization. But they fear that this initiative – lacking resident participation – could potentially convert premium city property into a playground for the rich, displacing the lower-caste, migrant communities who have resided there since the nineteenth century.

This involved these shunned, displaced people who built up the vacant wetlands into an extensively researched phenomenon of self-reliance and business activity, whose economic value is estimated at between one million dollars and two million dollars annually, making it one of the world's largest unofficial markets.

Relocation Worries

Among approximately one million residents living in the dense 220-hectare neighborhood, less than 50% will be qualified for replacement housing in the redevelopment, which is expected to take an extended timeframe to complete. Additional residents will be relocated to undeveloped zones and salt plains on the remote edges of Mumbai, risking divide a generations-old community. Some will not get residences at all.

Those allowed to stay in the neighborhood will be provided units in high-rise buildings, a major break from the natural, shared lifestyle of residing and operating that has maintained the community for so long.

Commercial activities from tailoring to clay work and material recovery are likely to reduce in scale and be moved to an allocated "industrial sector" distant from people's residences.

Livelihood Crisis

In the case of the leather artisan, a workshop owner and long-time inhabitant to live in the slum, the plan presents a survival challenge. His makeshift, three-floor facility creates garments – formal jackets, luxury coats, fashionable garments – marketed in luxury boutiques in the city's affluent areas and internationally.

His family dwells in the accommodations below and laborers and sewers – laborers from other states – reside on-site, permitting him to manage costs. Outside the slum, Mumbai rents are typically 10 times costlier for basic accommodation.

Harassment and Intimidation

At the government offices in the vicinity, a conceptual model of the transformation initiative shows an alternative vision for the future. Fashionable residents mill about on two-wheelers and electric vehicles, acquiring continental baked goods and breakfast items and having coffee on a terrace adjacent to Dharavi Cafe and dessert parlor. This depicts a stark contrast from the affordable idli sambar morning meal and budget beverage that maintains Dharavi's community.

"This isn't development for us," says the artisan. "It's a massive real estate deal that will price people out for us to survive."

There is also concern of the development company. Managed by a powerful tycoon – among the country's wealthiest and a supporter of the Indian prime minister – the conglomerate has encountered allegations of preferential treatment and financial impropriety, which it denies.

While local authorities calls it a partnership, the developer paid $950m for its 80% stake. Legal proceedings stating that the project was questionably assigned to the business group is being considered in the nation's highest judicial body.

Ongoing Pressure

After they started to publicly resist the project, local opponents claim they have been faced ongoing efforts of pressure and threats – comprising phone calls, clear intimidation and implications that speaking against the initiative was tantamount to opposing national interests – by figures they claim represent the corporate group.

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