Mumbai: The BMC has allocated Rs 25 crore in its annual Budget 2025-26 for infrastructure development in all Koliwadas and gaothans of Mumbai. However, Koli fishers are not pleased by the dole, which they see as mere balm application over a deep festering wound. Compelling, longstanding grievances remain unaddressed since decades, they point out.
“There are approximately 100 Koliwadas in Mumbai.

So this allocation averages Rs 25 lakh per fishing village. Instead of this dole, it would be better for the govt to address pressing needs like timely disbursal of diesel subsidy, development of Koliwada lands and livelihood issues that have imperiled our generational business,” said Pradeep Tapke, a senior community leader of Versova fishing village.
The articulate Ujwala Patil of Mahim Koliwada whose father and father-in-law spent their lives advocating various welfare issues for the Kolis, said, “Our longstanding demands like demarcation of Koliwada land, land ownership, permission to build better homes and unwillingness to be classified as slums are still unaddressed. We refuse to be grouped under SRA schemes. We are not slum settlers who have arrived from outside. We are original sons of the soil.”
Another inheritor of the Koli legacy, Devendra Tandel, president, Akhil Maharashtra Machhimar Kriti Samiti, said, “Koliwadas have been an integral part of the cityscape for over 400 years. Despite the onslaught of migrants and drastic demographic changes, Koli culture is flourishing. There are a total of 97 Koli settlements in Mumbai with 64 gaothans and 33 Koliwadas. Gaothans are approved villages earmarked under the Maharashtra Land Revenue Code 1966 whereas Koliwadas formed after 1966 are treated as nothing less than slums. All fishermen settlements are universally known as Koliwadas.” He said, “The BMC Budget for 2025-26 has proposed a lump sum provision of Rs 25 crore for infrastructural facilities to develop Koliwadas and to attract tourists. But this allotment is purely patchwork done by the BMC to score some PR brownie points. Effectively, Rs 26.59 lakh is the allocation for each Koliwada.”
“Renovation of old sewage lines, drinking water supply, electricity, fish drying yards, village level fish markets within these Koliwadas, boat parking yards, ice plants, cold storage facilities, fish auction halls, internal roads, dilapidated local balwadis (creches) are some of the basic amenities that need attention in each Koliwada. However the amount allocated is meagre in every sense. Koliwadas in Cuffe Parade, Colaba, Worli, Versova, Juhu and Sassoon Dock attract foreign tourists yet are in a big civic mess.
There are 108 fish markets in Mumbai but their current infrastructure is like the 1960s. There is no specific allocation for fish markets. Kolis believe that the Budget allocation for Koliwadas is just an eyewash.” Tandel points out that the exports of fisheries are mainly delivered from Sassoon Dock, Bhaucha Dhakka and Versova. “So the Koli contribution is not only cultural but also financial. We want the BMC to realise the important contribution of the fishermen. Additional financial thrust needs to be infused to make our Koliwadas global,” he said.