Few months before, the state government led by Eknath Shinde had given a green signal to the development of the Koliwadas in Mumbai. The government has decided on the cluster redevelopment of these settlements in different parts of the city. The koliwadas are the settlements of the Koli or fishermen community, who are the original inhabitants of Mumbai along with indigenous groups like the Agaris, Bhandaris and Pathare Prabhus. They are spread across areas like Colaba, Worli, Sion, Dharavi, Versova and others. However, fearing that the move would wipe out the identity of their age-old settlements and prove a threat to their sole means of livelihood, the fishing community has strongly opposed the inclusion of “koliwadas” in the cluster redevelopment scheme.
In all, around 32 koliwadas in Mumbai have been demarcated, and work on the rest is underway. A Development Control Regulations for the development of koliwadas has been prepared as a special dispensation, but is yet to be finalised. The new DCR will give extra FSI to the koliwadas to accommodate them. The government has also formulated a special set of DCR to develop the koliwadas by giving incentives like extra floor space index (FSI). While doing this the Koli’s have been overlooked. The Kolis are the city’s earliest inhabitants, and have existed here since it was seven islands, before each island was joined to create Bombay by the British, whose development reclaimed and relocated the community.
As the government is hectically pushing for cluster redevelopment, the resentment among the community is growing on every given day. The first and foremost issue which is directly affecting all the fishermen is their livelihood. The state-level fisherman association, Akhil Maharashtra MachhimaarKruti Samiti (AMMKS) has written letters to the chief minister, deputy chief minister, additional chief secretary, district collector and the municipal commissioner demanding immediate exclusion of Koliwadas and villages in Palghar and Ratnagiri districts from the much-hyped scheme.
The fisherfolks are worried due to Inclusion of koliwada in the urban renewal plan under the guise of cluster redevelopment. They think this is unmindful and if implemented, it will have negative impacts on fishing, fishing communities and the coastal environment of the city. If the coastal areas are not excluded, the entire community will be forced to launch an agitation.
Apart from ownership rights of some properties held by local fishermen, several land parcels are still owned by the Mumbai Port Trust and Revenue Department. Home to more than thousands of fishing boats in the region, people living in the coastal belt exclusively rely on fishing as their source of livelihood. Notably, the fishing community has been struggling for the collective ownership of areas used to park boats, dry fish and mend fishnets, for the past more than two decades.
The question hovering in the minds of this fishing community that Is the redevelopment of Koliwadas becoming a threat to the Kolis.
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