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Over an extended period, intimidating communications recurred. At first, supposedly from a former police officer and a former defense officer, subsequently from the authorities. Finally, a local artisan states he was summoned to the local precinct and told clearly: remain silent or experience severe repercussions.

This third-generation resident is among those opposing a high-value initiative where one of India's largest slums – a massive informal community with rich history – is scheduled to be razed and modernized by a corporate giant.

"The unique ecosystem of this area is like nowhere else in the world," states the protester. "But their intention is to destroy our way of life and stop us speaking out."

Opposing Environments

The narrow alleys of Dharavi present a dramatic difference to the high-rise structures and Bollywood penthouses that overshadow the settlement. Dwellings are assembled randomly and frequently lacking adequate facilities, unregulated industries produce dangerous fumes and the air is permeated by the overpowering odor of uncovered waste channels.

Among some individuals, the promise of the slum's redevelopment into a developed area of premium apartments, organized recreational areas, shiny shopping centers and apartments with multiple bathrooms is an optimistic future come true.

"We don't have adequate medical facilities, proper streets or water management and we have no places for youth to recreate," explains a tea vendor, fifty-six, who migrated from Tamil Nadu in that period. "The sole solution is to tear it all down and provide modern residences."

Resident Opposition

But others, including Shaikh, are opposing the project.

Everyone acknowledges that the slum, historically ignored as informal housing, is desperately requiring financial support and improvement. But they are concerned that this plan – without resident participation – is one that will turn premium city property into a luxury development, displacing the lower-caste, migrant communities who have lived there since the late 1800s.

This involved these excluded, displaced people who established the vacant wetlands into a widely studied marvel of community resilience and economic productivity, whose production is valued at between a significant amount and $2m annually, making it among the globe's biggest informal economies.

Resettlement Issues

Out of about one million inhabitants living in the dense 2.2 square kilometer neighborhood, less than 50% will be qualified for alternative accommodation in the redevelopment, which is expected to take seven years to complete. Additional residents will be relocated to barren areas and salt plains on the distant periphery of the city, threatening to divide a long-established community. Some will be denied residences at all.

People eligible to remain in the neighborhood will be allocated apartments in high-rise buildings, a substantial change from the organic, collective approach of dwelling and laboring that has sustained this area for so long.

Businesses from clothing production to clay work and recycling are projected to shrink in number and be moved to a specific "business area" far from residential areas.

Livelihood Crisis

For those such as this protester, a craftsman and long-time inhabitant to reside in Dharavi, the redevelopment presents a fundamental risk. His rickety, three-floor facility makes garments – sharp blazers, luxury coats, studded bomber jackets – sold in high-end shops in the city's affluent areas and overseas.

Relatives dwells in the accommodations downstairs and employees and tailors – workers from north India – also sleep there, permitting him to afford their labour. Beyond the slum, accommodation prices are frequently tenfold as high for basic accommodation.

Pressure and Coercion

In the administrative buildings nearby, an illustrated mock-up of the transformation initiative illustrates a very different vision for the future. Well-groomed inhabitants mill about on cycles and electric vehicles, purchasing continental baked goods and croissants and socializing on an outdoor area outside a restaurant and dessert parlor. It is a world away from the affordable idli sambar first meal and budget beverage that sustains the neighborhood.

"This represents no improvement for residents," states Shaikh. "It's a massive real estate deal that will make it unaffordable for residents to remain."

There is also skepticism of the business conglomerate. Managed by a prominent businessman – one of India's most powerful and an associate of the Indian prime minister – the corporation has been subject to claims of favoritism and questionable practices, which it denies.

Even as administrative bodies describes it as a collaborative effort, the corporation invested nearly a billion dollars for its 80% stake. Legal proceedings alleging that the project was questionably assigned to the business group is being considered in India's supreme court.

Ongoing Pressure

After they started to publicly resist the project, local opponents assert they have been subjected to a long-running campaign of harassment and intimidation – comprising phone calls, direct threats and insinuations that opposing the development was equivalent to anti-national sentiment – by figures they assert are associated with the business conglomerate.

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