View from the Margins: Why Mumbai’s indigenous Kolis are angry with unchecked coastal ‘development’

Voting is often the only chance that many of India's marginalised groups get to express themselves. As national elections approach, Scroll's reporters fanned out across the country to talk to groups with little socio-political power as part of a series called the View from the Margins. The aim: try to understand how the powerless and the voiceless have fared under a decade of the Modi government.

A sea breeze carrying with it the faint smell of fish wafts through the hutments in Cuffe Parade’s fishing colony, also known as Machhimar Nagar. For generations, most families here are engaged in the profession the colony is named after. With boats docked at one end, the slum stands in sharp contrast to the towering buildings around it.

From the rocky shoreline, Mumbai’s majestic Marine Drive is visible. The promenade, however, is partially hidden behind giant cranes, machinery and barricades. A newly-constructed coastal road, built on a reclaimed piece of land, now juts out into the sea. Further west, into the Arabian Sea, will be constructed a giant statue of mediaeval Maratha king, Shivaji.

Fish in the sea

These two projects, says Devendra Damodar Tandel, a resident of Machhimar colony, have sealed the fate of fisherfolk in this koliwada, as Koli settlements are known...

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