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Over an extended period, coercive communications persisted. Initially, allegedly from a retired cop and an ex-military commander, and then from the police themselves. Ultimately, a local artisan states he was ordered to the police station and told clearly: keep quiet or experience severe repercussions.

This third-generation resident is among those opposing a high-value redevelopment plan where Dharavi – one of India’s largest and most storied slums – is scheduled to be bulldozed and transformed by a corporate giant.

"The culture of Dharavi is like nowhere else in the globe," explains the resident. "However their intention is to destroy our community and stop us speaking out."

Contrasting Realities

The narrow alleys of Dharavi stand in sharp opposition to the soaring skyscrapers and elite residences that loom over the settlement. Dwellings are assembled randomly and typically missing basic amenities, informal businesses emit toxic smoke and the atmosphere is filled with the unpleasant stench of uncovered waste channels.

For certain residents, the prospect of the slum's redevelopment into a glistening neighborhood of premium apartments, well-maintained green spaces, contemporary malls and homes with two toilets is an aspirational dream achieved.

"There's no adequate medical facilities, roads or sewage systems and there's nowhere for kids to enjoy," explains A Selvin Nadar, in his fifties, who moved from southern India in the early eighties. "The sole solution is to demolish everything and provide modern residences."

Local Protest

Yet certain residents, such as this protester, are opposing the plan.

Everyone acknowledges that the slum, historically ignored as an illegal encroachment, is in stark need investment and development. Yet they worry that this project – absent of community input – could potentially convert premium city property into a luxury development, forcing out the marginalized, migrant communities who have lived there since generations ago.

This involved these marginalized, migrant workers who developed the vacant wetlands into an extensively researched phenomenon of self-reliance and business activity, whose output is worth between a significant amount and a substantial sum a year, making it one of the world's largest unofficial markets.

Displacement Concerns

Of the roughly 1 million residents living in the crowded 2.2 square kilometer zone, less than 50% will be eligible for alternative accommodation in the development, which is projected to take seven years to complete. Additional residents will be relocated to wastelands and salt plains on the far outskirts of the city, potentially fragment a long-established neighborhood. Certain individuals will receive no housing at all.

Those allowed to remain in Dharavi will be provided apartments in tower blocks, a major break from the organic, communal way of residing and operating that has sustained this area for many years.

Industries from garment work to ceramic crafts and material recovery are likely to shrink in number and be transferred to a specific "business area" distant from people's residences.

Livelihood Crisis

For residents like this protester, a craftsman and long-time inhabitant to live in Dharavi, the project presents an existential threat. His informal, three-storey operation creates apparel – tailored coats, premium outerwear, studded bomber jackets – marketed in high-end shops in upscale neighborhoods and overseas.

Relatives resides in the spaces downstairs and laborers and sewers – laborers from north India – live there, enabling him to manage costs. Away from the slum, accommodation prices are often tenfold costlier for minimal space.

Threats and Warning

Within the official facilities nearby, a conceptual model of the redevelopment plan depicts a contrasting vision for the future. Well-groomed inhabitants move around on cycles and eco-friendly transport, acquiring continental baked goods and pastries and enlisting beverages on a terrace near a restaurant and dessert parlor. This depicts a world away from the affordable idli sambar morning meal and low-cost tea that sustains the neighborhood.

"This isn't improvement for us," states the protester. "It represents an enormous land development that will price people out for our community to continue."

There is also skepticism of the corporate group. Managed by an influential industrialist – one of India's most powerful and an associate of the government head – the business group has faced accusations of preferential treatment and questionable practices, which it rejects.

Although local authorities labels it a joint project, the business group invested $950m for its majority share. Legal proceedings alleging that the initiative was improperly granted to the business group is pending in the nation's highest judicial body.

Ongoing Pressure

From when they initiated to vocally oppose the development, local opponents claim they have been faced a long-running campaign of coercion and warning – involving phone calls, clear intimidation and suggestions that speaking against the project was tantamount to opposing national interests – by figures they assert are associated with the developer.

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