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Worli Koliwada to get facelift; cafes, photo booths planned
The facelift is intended to blend seamlessly with the Bandra-Worli Sea Link, planned coastal road and Worli Fort to create a unique aesthetic view to attract tourists. A civic official from G south ward in his letter dated June 19 stated to Worli Kolis that Deepak Kesarkar, guardian minister, had directed to implement the food court concept in the jetty area near the sea with an aim to provide self-employment to the local fishermen and citizens of Worli Koliwada.
Mumbai: In a move to uplift the standard of living of the Kolis, the civic body is set to give Worli Koliwada — one of the oldest fishing villages in the city — a facelift, with a fresh coat of paint, and refurbishments which will include cafes, photo booths and other tourist attractions.
The facelift is intended to blend seamlessly with the Bandra-Worli Sea Link, planned coastal road and Worli Fort to create a unique aesthetic view to attract tourists.
Community development to uplift the Kolis’ standard of living is the highlight of the design, said Aseem Gokarn Harwansh, AGH RBV Designs, principal consultant of the project.
When Gokarn started researching, her team had a dialogue with the Kolis and realised that while the mandate given by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) was beautification, the locals were not cooperating.
“We learnt that their revenues and per capita income had decreased over the years because there are no longer the fish that used to be there. Due to a lot of hardships, their survival had become tough. We realised that beautification will be dysfunctional if we do not resolve their issues and support their needs,” said Gokarn.
Gokarn said that they cannot allocate shops but can have mobile food trucks. “Since some houses have open terraces, we will prepare an SOP for Sky Cafes on how they can be monitored. This will become a part of generating revenue and promoting tourism. We are also thinking of coming up with boat cafes,” said Gokarn.
A civic official from G south ward in his letter dated June 19 stated to Worli Kolis that Deepak Kesarkar, guardian minister, had directed to implement the food court concept in the jetty area near the sea with an aim to provide self-employment to the local fishermen and citizens of Worli Koliwada.
The RPG Foundation has been working with the BMC to implement the Worli Koliwada Transformation Project since September 2022. Under the project, tasks such as training local women to become health workers, training women to set up food stalls, health checkup camps, sports, and other engagements for the community have been completed or ongoing. The Foundation has also installed 69 heritage-themed streetlights and commissioned 3 murals in the area to promote the Koliwada as an art district. RPG Foundation is also working on refurbishing playgrounds, planting 200 trees, and uplifting the community around the Worli Fort.
“These are the city’s oldest and original inhabitants. This neighborhood represents the city’s culture and heritage. As Mumbai makes rapid strides of progress, our work with the community at Worli Koliwada aims to keep the area relevant to the city, encourage our citizens, especially the youth, to appreciate the heritage, and at the same time, create opportunities for the locals to better their lives.”, said Radha Goenka, Director of the RPG Foundation.
Advocate Sharad Koli, a local, said the cottages are being painted at present. “Each cottage has approximately 25 rooms and there are nearly 675 legal houses in Worli village. The BMC has sent a letter to Nau Patil Jamat Gaokari Committee that they are planning cafes or takeaway centres near Cleaveland Bunder Road where boats are parked and are setting up stalls near Worli Fort area. The locals have yet to arrive at a decision,” said Koli.
Santoshkumar Dhonde, assistant commissioner, G south ward said, “The roofs will be painted by the BMC so that whenever we take an aerial view from a plane the roofs with uniform painting of fish will look spectacular,” he said.
The Worli Koliwada refurbishment is being done under the guidance of CM Eknath Shinde and Kesarkar.
Gokarn said as people go to see ethnic old villages, they even thought of setting up a photo booth where tourists can dress up like a Koli.
“We had to focus on the functionality aspect by repairing the roads, pathways, toilets and develop recreational grounds to promote their activities with sculptures, signboards. Then having a proper entrance plaza, an orientation, selfie points, then telling people the stories about the Worli Fort,” she said.
The Worli Koliwada will be designed to also attract the younger generation to cultivate an affinity towards the marine ecosystem. The BMC, through a CDO officer, will train the Kolis and their family members to run these cafes and present their cooked food.
“We looked at self-help groups to tie up with BMCs CDOs to train Koli women to make and sell their masalas as Mumbai Koliwada masalas,” said Gokarn.
“We will also promote home chefs and that is where the home cafes will come in. We can also have souvenirs made by them which can be sold, and they are good at weaving as they weave their own nets.
“We are also improving their boat and net repairing facilities. We are getting renewable energy like a windmill or a solar power which will at least run their basic amenities,” added Gokarn.
