​Koli Community Protests 'Exorbitant' MbPT Rents, Demands Land For Koli Bhavan

The Akhil Maharashtra Machhimar Kriti Samiti has submitted representations to the Mumbai Port Authority (MbPT) and the Government of Maharashtra, objecting to the decision to allot valuable MbPT land to external entities on nominal lease terms. This comes as monthly rents ranging between Rs 20 lakh and Rs 50 lakh are being imposed on Koli community members, many of whom have operated in the MbPT area since before independence.

Indigenous community faces injustice
The association condemned what it terms a "systemic injustice" against the indigenous Koli community—the original inhabitants who built Mumbai through their labor and lifelong struggle with the sea.

Kolis are port backbone
Devendra Damodar Tandel, president of the Samiti, stated that the Kolis are the backbone of Mumbai’s port economy through fishing, vending, and maritime expertise. "Today, those very hands that built the city are being economically suffocated and pushed out of their own land," Tandel said, adding that if MbPT has the authority to allot land at minuscule rates, the "sons of the soil" should have the first right.

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Demands and warning issued
The association is demanding a reduction in rents, the allotment of land for a "Koli Bhavan," and a Rs 300 crore corpus fund from the state government for its construction. The group warned that, in addition to legal action, a large-scale public protest will be launched if their demands are not met.

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