Tensions escalate at Sassoon Dock as Koli community resists eviction

Former chairperson of the Machimaar Sarvoday Society, Bhaskar Tandel, warned that after targeting godown operators, the authorities might come for the fisher folk themselves. “Mumbai belongs to the Kolis, and many livelihoods depend on the dock

MUMBAI: High drama unfolded at Sassoon Dock on Tuesday as the port authorities faced off with angry members of the Koli community, who resisted eviction from warehouses on the premises.

Tensions escalate at Sassoon Dock as Koli community resists eviction

The eviction attempt follows a standoff with the Mumbai Port Authority (MbPA), which is demanding that the Kolis and others who use its warehouses, or godowns, at the dock pay rents at Ready Reckoner rates. The Koli community says it feels deeply betrayed as they had been given an assurance by state fisheries and ports development minister Nitesh Rane that the matter would be worked out.

Despite the assurance, an MbPA team, backed by police, showed up at the dock, but they faced a fierce backlash from around 2,000 Kolis, many of whom blocked entry and gathered for a meeting in large numbers. When the standoff mounted, MbPA officials retreated, to avoid a potential law-and-order crisis.

“If the ports minister has assured us we wouldn’t be evicted, under whose instructions is MbPA acting,” asked Krishna Pawle, president of the Shiv Bharatiya Port Sena. Pawle questioned the sudden urgency of the eviction after over a decade of inaction. “This is injustice towards the original inhabitants of Mumbai.”

With the seasonal fishing ban set to be lifted on August 1, leaders of the fishing community say 20,000 individuals will protest at Sassoon Dock if eviction efforts continue.

Former chairperson of the Machimaar Sarvoday Society, Bhaskar Tandel, warned that after targeting godown operators, the authorities might come for the fisher folk themselves. “Mumbai belongs to the Kolis, and many livelihoods depend on the dock,” he said.

In response to the protests, an MbPA official cited a 2014 Supreme Court order directing the eviction of tenants from the dock area. According to the official, the primary leaseholder of the warehouses is the Maharashtra Fisheries Development Corporation (MFDC), not the individual godown operators or the fisher folk.

“The court had granted six months to vacate the premises, from the ruling in 2014 to, and the MbPA is merely enforcing that order. These godown operators are tenants of MFDC, not MbPA, and we are not concerned with them. Our action is based on the court’s mandate, and we are not acting out of hostility,” the official clarified.

However, community leaders pointed to a crucial 2015 meeting at Vidhan Bhavan, where senior ministers Nitin Gadkari and Eknath Khadse agreed on a resolution, including a decision not to collect rent based on Ready Reckoner rates.

“If MbPA refuses to acknowledge that meeting or its outcome, they should give it to us in writing. If not, it will be clear that there is a hidden agenda,” added Pawle.