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For months, threatening communications persisted. Originally, reportedly from a retired cop and a former defense officer, and then from the authorities. Finally, a local artisan states he was ordered to the police station and told clearly: keep quiet or face serious consequences.

This third-generation resident is one of many fighting a expensive redevelopment plan where Dharavi – an iconic Mumbai neighborhood – is scheduled to be demolished and modernized by a corporate giant.

"The distinctive community of this area is exceptional in the globe," explains the resident. "However the plan aims to eradicate our way of life and silence our voices."

Dual Worlds

The cramped lanes of Dharavi present a dramatic difference to the soaring skyscrapers and Bollywood penthouses that dominate the area. Residences are assembled randomly and often lacking adequate facilities, small-scale operations produce dangerous fumes and the air is permeated by the overpowering odor of open sewers.

Among some individuals, the prospect of a renewed Dharavi into a glistening neighborhood of high-end towers, well-maintained green spaces, modern retail complexes and residences with two toilets is a hopeful vision come true.

"We lack sufficient health services, proper streets or water management and there's nowhere for youth to recreate," says A Selvin Nadar, in his fifties, who relocated from Tamil Nadu in the early eighties. "The only way is to demolish everything and provide modern residences."

Community Resistance

Yet certain residents, including the leather artisan, are opposing the plan.

None deny that this community, long neglected as unauthorized settlement, is urgently needing economic input and modernization. However they worry that this project – lacking resident participation – could potentially convert a piece of prime Mumbai real estate into an elite enclave, forcing out the marginalized, migrant communities who have lived there since the nineteenth century.

These were these marginalized, displaced people who established the empty marshland into an extensively researched phenomenon of community resilience and business activity, whose economic value is valued at between a significant amount and two million dollars annually, making it a major unregulated sectors.

Relocation Worries

Among approximately a million inhabitants living in the dense sprawling neighborhood, less than 50% will be qualified for replacement housing in the project, which is estimated to take a significant period to finish. Others will be moved to undeveloped zones and salt plains on the remote edges of the metropolis, threatening to fragment a long-established neighborhood. Some will be denied residences at all.

People eligible to remain in Dharavi will be given units in high-rise buildings, a major break from the organic, shared lifestyle of living and working that has maintained this area for so long.

Commercial activities from garment work to clay work and material recovery are likely to decrease in quantity and be moved to a designated "commercial zone" distant from residential areas.

Survival Challenge

In the case of the leather artisan, a craftsman and third generation resident to reside in this community, the redevelopment presents an existential threat. His makeshift, three-floor workshop creates garments – sharp blazers, suede trenches, fashionable garments – marketed in premium stores in the city's affluent areas and abroad.

Household members resides in the rooms underneath and his workers and garment workers – laborers from different regions – reside in the same building, allowing him to manage costs. Outside Dharavi's enclave, Mumbai rents are frequently tenfold as high for a single room.

Threats and Warning

At the administrative buildings in the vicinity, a conceptual model of the redevelopment plan depicts a contrasting perspective. Fashionable residents gather on bicycles and electric vehicles, acquiring western-style bread and croissants and having coffee on a patio near Dharavi Cafe and dessert parlor. This represents a complete departure from the affordable idli sambar morning meal and budget beverage that maintains the neighborhood.

"This isn't development for our community," says the protester. "It's a huge property transaction that will price people out for us to survive."

Additionally, there exists skepticism of the development company. Headed by a powerful tycoon – among the country's wealthiest and a supporter of the government head – the corporation has faced accusations of favoritism and questionable practices, which it rejects.

While administrative bodies calls it a partnership, the business group paid a significant amount for its 80% stake. A lawsuit claiming that the redevelopment was improperly granted to the business group is being considered in the top court.

Sustained Harassment

Since they began to publicly resist the development, local opponents state they have been faced ongoing efforts of pressure and threats – comprising messages, direct threats and insinuations that speaking against the project was tantamount to speaking against the country – by figures they assert represent the corporate group.

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