ARTICLE ON LIFE STYLE OF KOLIS IN MUMBAI

 

A feature on Mumbai

-RATAN RAO

Life of kolis(fishing community)

In the heart of Mumbai is a location called Worli, an emerging commercial hub gradually filling up with corporate skylines. One place that hasn’t changed however is the 600 year old Worli village from the times of the adjoining fort built by the British in 1675.

 

 

 The Koli fishing community, with authentic, tribal fishermen and old school fishing techniques has thrived here for centuries. Age old practices start early in the morning with fishing boats going out to sea and coming back late at night via the connected Mahim Creek. Once in the village, you are greeted with the smell of drying fish and other fishing equipment in open air in a small sandy beach.

 This area is mainly used by the Koli community and is not a frequent tourist stop. Getting deeper inside Worli village, one can get lost in a maze of small but colorful shanties and chawls. Old duplexes with iron stairs on the outside, brightly colorful and patterned clothes drying out under the Mumbai sun, colorful pots nursing Tulsi plants and flowers and a cacophony of wall colors offer you a visual delight.

 The organic development of the village over decades and centuries around gullies (zig zag lanes) can be disorienting, leaving you confused about where your entrance point was. The village itself is an outstanding place to witness the daily life of these fishermen. Repair and painting of fishing boats, untangling and stitching nets, weaving fishing baskets out of wooden sticks and draining water using age old techniques to keep the fish fresh are common sights. Older women sweeping verandahs and floors, and performing household chores while children playing cricket and soccer in open muddy spots (a luxury in Mumbai’s concrete jungle), offer ample photo opportunities that one is unlikely to experience in a city like Mumbai.

 For this experience,I will meet at Sea Corner Restaurant located 200 meters from the roundabout where the famous Worli Sea Face ends. We will then walk towards Worli Koliwads village seeing the colorful shacks and chawls, stopping as required for street shots and portraits.

Then I will proceed to the area where the fishermen are and spend half an hour of them. After that, we will roam around the lanes of this village and everyday life of the Koli community. Our last stop will be the famous Worli fort for some architectural shots, great views of the Mumbai skyline and an aerial view of the entire village.

 

 

 

MUMBAI'S KOLIS FACE EVICTION

When fishermen at Worli Koliwada tried to take their boats out to sea in the last week of september, soon after Narali Poornima – a festival that marks the onset of the fishing season – they found that reclamation work had affected the coastline used for docking boats.

Where earlier 35 boats would stand, today even 19 boats are finding it difficult to find space in the waters leading to fights and friction within the community.

An estimated ten lakh fishermen reside in Mumbai and there are about 108 fish markets in the city, and their problems are expected to escalate once the controversial coastal road is joined to the Bandra-Worli Sea Link. “Once the Coastal Road is connected to the Sea Link, the columns of the link could block the navigation route of the fishermen and make it difficult for their boats to enter the sea, an advocacy group that has been fighting for the rights of the fishing community.

 

Mumbai’s fisherfolk have been protesting developmental projects consistently, especially in light of recent projects like the Coastal Road and even the Mumbai Trans Harbour Link that will inevitably leave an impact on their livelihood.

 

What is the history of the Kolis?

 

The Kolis are the city’s earliest inhabitants, and have existed here since it was Heptanesia (seven islands) – before each island was joined to create Bombay by the British, whose development reclaimed and relocated the community.

 

A systematic eviction

These days most  fishermen stay in the 30-odd koliwadas spread across the coastal parts of the city – from Cuffe Parade to Worli and Versova – who fish with small boats in small quantities and sell in the local markets nearby. Largely, the community’s ancient tradition of artisanal fishing – a sustainable fishing method that could sustain the ocean’s natural environment – has been replaced by commercial fishing practices.

Kolis now struggle to compete with rapid urban development in the city. The recent demolition of fish markets at Crawford and Dadar, citing traffic and hazardous building conditions, replaces indigenous communities with industries. Fish vendors at both markets were asked to relocate to Airoli, but were opposed by established vendors in the area who saw this as a competition for survival.

“The sea, equivalent to fields for us, is here in Mumbai. Our farm is here, our clientele is here, what will we do out of the city? Is it even practical to carry the fish all the way from Worli to Navi Mumbai? Not only will our ice melt but even our transportation and labour costs will increase multifold.

 

The koliwadas are also dealing with callous decisions by the government. Many of them were defined as slums and pushed into slum rehabilitation programs. The scheme itself failed to take off due to corruption and other factors.  Allauddin Niyaz Khan, chairman of the fishermen’s group, had been staying in the Haji Ali koliwada and found his house demolished without proper notice and was rendered homeless. Allauddin is now staying in a rented house and finds himself struggling for space on the coast to dock his boats; he owns four.

 

“Most of the Koliwadas are located in prime locations with beautiful open spaces and hence would command huge real estate rates. Hence, they could have been at the receiving end from interested groups of the city, who conducts walking tours in the  koliwadas of Mumbai .

 

What are the challenges facing the community?

 

Kolis have navigated a challenging year on many fronts. Earlier it was outsiders who entered their fish vending business, exclusive to the kolis, that disturbed their businesses significantly. With increasing amounts of sewage in the Arabian Sea, there is more pollution that forces fishermen to traverse deeper into the waters for their catch. These problems together multiply their transportation costs by a lot, and the hike in fuel prices has only added to their woes. Lack of research on the social impact of infrastructure projects executed along the coast has resulted doubtful earning opportunities for the Kolis.

 

Has the city failed its original inhabitants?

 

 

The emergence of Mumbai could explain the current treatment of Kolis. “Most of Mumbai is made up of migrants, who come from the hinterlands and have no relationship with the sea. Hence, this land-based perspective reflects in their city policies. As the city grew the fishing community kept on getting pushed towards the sidelines. Unlike Mumbai, in many countries abroad, where the sea is part of the city, there is an engagement with the sea and its coastal or fishing communities.

 

 

 

What is the way out for the Kolis?

The solution is simple: hear their woes and engage with the community – its history and indigenous wisdom. “A small change in the design of the Coastal Link, to increase the gap between the columns, will help facilitate navigation of fishing boats to the shallow fishing area. However, the sad part is that the fishing community is never consulted before initiating projects impacting their livelihoods.

The Kolis, one of the oldest fishing communities of Mumbai, face an uncertain future

There is no doubt that this is a critical time for the survival of the Koli fishing community. How it adapts to, and evolves from, both the macro and micro factors affecting it in the dramatically changing environment of today will determine its success going forward.

 

 

The Kolis, one of the oldest fishing communities of Mumbai, face an uncertain future

Mumbai has been called the city of dreams, the city of gold, but get a little closer and dig a little deeper, you will find that Mumbai is not unlike a Russian matryoshka doll – take off one layer and you discover seemingly endless layers beneath, separate, fascinating, and sometimes overlapping, worlds within a world. So many different kinds of people from so many different places, races and communities have been drawn here over the centuries, and now all of them call this place home. However, it is the Koli fishing community, who must surely hold the strongest right to the title of Mumbai’s original residents. And Sassoon Dock at sunrise is the place to be to observe their overwhelmingly busy world in action, exploding with all of its energy, power, colour, texture, smell, tradition and magic.

 

For over 500 years the Koli fishing communities have been living and working along the coastal waters of the seven islands that made up the present day city of Mumbai. Some of Mumbai’s well-known locality names today originate from the Koli community, such as Worli and Dongri. In fact, even the very name ‘Mumbai’ is said to have been used for this place by the Kolis from as far back as the 16th century and was derived from their goddess, and patron deity of the city, Mumbadevi. Around 5,00,000 Kolis are estimated to be living in and around the Mumbai area, most still making their living off the sea despite a very different world rising up all around them on the land, and arguably even more drastic changes taking place below the waters of the sea they depend on. Even today, most of their daily trade is done, as it has been since the late 1800s, at Sassoon Dock, at sunrise.