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Over an extended period, threatening communications continued. At first, reportedly from an ex-law enforcement official and an ex-military commander, and then from law enforcement directly. In the end, a local artisan claims he was ordered to the local precinct and told clearly: keep quiet or face serious consequences.

This third-generation resident is part of a group fighting a multimillion-dollar project where one of India's largest slums – an iconic Mumbai neighborhood – faces razed and redeveloped by a large business group.

"The unique ecosystem of this area is unparalleled in the planet," explains Shaikh. "But they want to dismantle our community and stop us speaking out."

Contrasting Realities

The narrow alleys of this community present a dramatic difference to the high-rise structures and luxury apartments that loom over the settlement. Residences are built haphazardly and typically lacking adequate facilities, small-scale operations produce dangerous fumes and the air is permeated by the suffocating smell of uncovered waste channels.

For certain residents, the vision of the slum's redevelopment into a developed area of high-end towers, well-maintained green spaces, contemporary malls and residences with two toilets is an aspirational dream achieved.

"There's no sufficient health services, roads or water management and we have no places for youth to recreate," says a tea vendor, 56, who moved from Tamil Nadu in that period. "The single option is to demolish everything and provide modern residences."

Local Protest

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

All recognize that this community, consistently overlooked as informal housing, is in stark need investment and development. But they fear that this project – lacking public consultation – could potentially transform valuable urban land into a playground for the rich, evicting the lower-caste, immigrant populations who have been there since the nineteenth century.

These were these shunned, relocated individuals who established the empty marshland into a frequently examined example of local enterprise and commercial output, whose production is valued at between $1m and a substantial sum annually, making it a major unofficial markets.

Resettlement Issues

Of the roughly 1 million people living in the crowded sprawling zone, less than 50% will be able for new homes in the redevelopment, which is projected to take an extended timeframe to complete. Others will be relocated to wastelands and saline fields on the remote edges of the city, risking divide a historic community. A portion will not get homes at all.

People eligible to continue living in Dharavi will be given flats in tower blocks, a significant rupture from the natural, communal way of dwelling and laboring that has supported the community for so long.

Commercial activities from clothing production to pottery and material recovery are projected to shrink in number and be moved to an allocated "business area" separated from people's residences.

Livelihood Crisis

For those such as this protester, a craftsman and multi-generational resident to reside in the slum, the redevelopment presents a survival challenge. His makeshift, three-floor workshop makes garments – sharp blazers, suede trenches, fashionable garments – sold in high-end shops in south Mumbai and overseas.

Relatives dwells in the accommodations downstairs and employees and garment workers – laborers from north India – live in the same building, allowing him to sustain operations. Beyond Dharavi's enclave, Mumbai rents are often significantly costlier for a single room.

Threats and Warning

At the official facilities in the vicinity, an illustrated mock-up of the transformation initiative depicts an alternative vision for the future. Well-groomed people mill about on cycles and e-vehicles, purchasing western-style bread and pastries and socializing on a terrace near a coffee shop and Ice-Cream. This represents a world away from the inexpensive idli sambar morning meal and low-cost tea that supports Dharavi's community.

"This isn't progress for us," says Shaikh. "It represents a massive property transaction that will price people out for us to survive."

Additionally, there exists distrust of the business conglomerate. Headed by an influential industrialist – among the country's wealthiest and a supporter of the Indian prime minister – the business group has been subject to claims of preferential treatment and ethical concerns, which it rejects.

Although the state government describes it as a partnership, the developer contributed nearly a billion dollars for its majority share. A case alleging that the project was unfairly awarded to the corporation is pending in the top court.

Continued Intimidation

From when they initiated to actively protest the project, protesters and community members state they have been faced a long-running campaign of coercion and warning – involving messages, explicit warnings and implications that criticizing the project was comparable with opposing national interests – by individuals they assert are associated with the corporate group.

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