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For months, threatening communications recurred. At first, allegedly from an ex-law enforcement official and a retired army general, and then from the authorities. In the end, a local artisan states he was summoned to the local precinct and instructed bluntly: stop speaking out or encounter real trouble.

This third-generation resident is among those opposing a high-value project where this historic settlement – an iconic Mumbai neighborhood – will be bulldozed and redeveloped by a multinational conglomerate.

"The culture of Dharavi is unparalleled in the planet," states the protester. "Yet their intention is to destroy our way of life and silence our voices."

Contrasting Realities

The dank gullies of the slum sit in stark contrast to the soaring skyscrapers and luxury apartments that dominate the settlement. Homes are constructed informally and often missing basic amenities, unregulated industries produce dangerous fumes and the environment is saturated with the unpleasant stench of exposed drainage.

Among some individuals, the vision of a renewed Dharavi into a glistening neighborhood of high-end towers, well-maintained green spaces, contemporary malls and homes with proper sanitation is an aspirational dream come true.

"We lack adequate medical facilities, paved pathways or drainage and there's nowhere for children to play," states a chai seller, 56, who migrated from southern India in 1982. "The single option is to tear it all down and provide modern residences."

Resident Opposition

However, some, such as Shaikh, are resisting the plan.

None deny that this community, long neglected as unauthorized settlement, is in stark need financial support and improvement. Yet they fear that this initiative – lacking public consultation – is one that will transform a piece of prime Mumbai real estate into a luxury development, forcing out the lower-caste, migrant communities who have resided there since generations ago.

These were these excluded, migrant workers who developed the uninhabited area into a widely studied marvel of self-reliance and business activity, whose economic value is valued at between a significant amount and two million dollars a year, making it among the globe's biggest informal economies.

Relocation Worries

Out of about 1 million inhabitants living in the dense 220-hectare area, a minority will be able for replacement housing in the development, which is estimated to take an extended timeframe to finish. Others will be transferred to barren areas and salt plains on the remote edges of Mumbai, risking fragment a long-established social network. Some will receive no housing at all.

People eligible to stay in the neighborhood will be allocated flats in high-rise buildings, a significant rupture from the natural, communal way of residing and operating that has maintained the community for generations.

Industries from garment work to clay work and waste processing are projected to reduce in scale and be transferred to a specific "industrial sector" separated from homes.

Survival Challenge

For those such as the leather artisan, a workshop owner and third generation resident to live in Dharavi, the plan presents a survival challenge. His rickety, multi-level operation produces apparel – tailored coats, suede trenches, decorated jackets – distributed in high-end shops in the city's affluent areas and internationally.

Relatives dwells in the rooms below and his workers and tailors – laborers from different regions – live there, enabling him to manage costs. Beyond the slum, Mumbai rents are often tenfold more expensive for a single room.

Harassment and Intimidation

Within the government offices in the vicinity, a visual representation of the redevelopment plan illustrates a very different vision for the future. Slickly dressed people move around on bicycles and eco-friendly transport, buying international baked goods and breakfast items and having coffee on a terrace near Dharavi Cafe and dessert parlor. It is a world away from the 20-rupee idli sambar breakfast and 5-rupee chai that supports the neighborhood.

"This isn't progress for residents," says the artisan. "It's a massive real estate deal that will render it impossible for residents to remain."

There is also skepticism of the development company. Run by an influential industrialist – among the country's wealthiest and a supporter of the government head – the conglomerate has been subject to claims of preferential treatment and ethical concerns, which it rejects.

Even as the state government describes it as a partnership, the corporation invested a significant amount for its majority share. A lawsuit alleging that the project was unfairly awarded to the corporation is under review in the nation's highest judicial body.

Sustained Harassment

From when they initiated to vocally oppose the project, local opponents claim they have been experienced ongoing efforts of harassment and intimidation – including communications, explicit warnings and implications that speaking against the development was equivalent to anti-national sentiment – by individuals they allege represent the developer.

Included in these suspected of making intimidations is {a retired police officer|a former law enforcement official|an ex-c