“They should pay us; we remove so much trash while fishing.”

“You can sometimes tell by the colour of the water which fish you can catch. Now the water is so dirty.”

“Climate Change? Yes, the climate has changed – all this construction has come in the sea where we used to fish.”

“The Khalis are being used for fish stalls. It’s good. What to do? Everyone must do whatever they can to make a living.”

"There is no value for Koli kids. We have to take loans and get jobs and then again paid it off. Main nuksaan is due to the coastal road. Where will the fish go? Our people are not so educated so they are sacred. All the gutters go in there. Where will the fish go? Their trawlers are on even during monsoon. The coastal road has brought in lot of losses for us."

“See our children are not gone on the wrong path they have not got into drinking or drugs. They are educated but they have no jobs.They say mumbai belongs to us but our children will work as watchman under these towers? We don't have funds. Today there was a news in the paper that a family paid 15-20 lacs for their kid to get in to railway job and now they are caught but does the government think of the parents and how hard they tried to get the money? Because of this tension the life of his parents would be affected.”

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“See from zhopdi we came to the housing board now; we will be going to a sankul (tower) around 22 storeys! There are around 1160 houses which are represented by society, and now once they solve whatever questions people have, then we will be moving. See, some people are ready to shift but some still have doubts. Then the builder and the solicitor will take a final meeting. See! We came from the zhopdi to here and will be going to the tower. See, this is the difference.”

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“The younger generation can see what is happening. How will they stay interested in fishing? Their aspirations are also so much more.”

“They built this bridge, they are building another bridge, do we get to ride on them? Do we get a discount since they are built on our fishing areas?”

“There was guy here in the bank, he would go fishing in the morning take the boat till Haji Ali lotus jetty he would take a short cut and get off there , he would take a towel and clothes with him, then he would take bath in the boat wear his clothes and go, he was a manager in a bank and then go to work. There are many people like that.

Many people go fishing early in the morning and then go to work, some people come back from work and then go fishing there are many people like that. They go fishing on holidays, there is one person with me he is a chef in Mazgoan dock, he asks us to to call him up in morning to go fishing. See in fishing there is no job, there is no deadline, there is freedom. If you are sick you stay home, when you recover you go back to work. In job it's not like that”

“What I tell the younger generation is that if you want to do a job, this is also a full-time job. And you are your own boss. But there should be an opportunity to fish.”

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“Now what kind of jobs do you think our people will get? All service kinds.”

"I think that really depends on the background I mean the financial background, if it's good then then te baher padtat ( they can step out to pursue what they want ) if their families are open minded, some like batchmates have only studied till 10th there are such people too and they get into fishing. But women they want to pursue jobs and boys go into fishing. Some family think like will they be able to do well in a job, things like that, but girls go more into jobs."

“I would go out and fish and do nothing else, if only I could. It is because of the fish shortage that I must take other jobs in the city.”

“Who is there? Who is the Koli lokancha neta ( Koli leader)...see the farmers get everything...this that everything…this cyclone caused us so much harm…..since so many years what have they given us? Nothing! They (farmers) they get subsidy and everything, it's difficult to get subsidy...how should we live…give our kids jobs...means our people are just at the same spot”

“ See we used to buy fish from them (fisherman) and then go to the market , not we have to go to go there ( Colaba)..I used to go to pick Kalwa too, but since the bharni (reclamation) I dont go there”

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See I broke my legs because of this Kalwa picking…. see they have taken our everything that coastal road and even the sealink…they have left us with nothing”

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“The fish has reduced because of the sealink… the most affected by the sealink are the Koli people. See if the boats dont go to fish...how will we get the fish?”

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“Yes, they do, like if they are into corporate jobs not then, but those into fishing, like if one of them is working in jobs, because fishing is a seasonal activity they dont get fish 365 days a year , so people who are working have to contribute to the house. Like see now rainy season fishing is stopped so now they have to depends on their children who are working in jobs to provide (haath-bhaar) for the family or depend on their earlier savings. Overall it's like that.”

“Women have not received even one rupee [of compensation]. See it's going on since 2018 even now not one man or woman has received even one rupee. Denar denar denar! (They say we will give, we will give…) that's all they are saying . They are asking so many things, we are giving all documents. The women who sit in the market they have given proofs like market licences, ration cards. They are also asking how many people are there in the family, what is their income? They have also given… the people who are going to give this lumpsum amount to the people have taken like 30-45 min of interviews with these people. This compensation is for those owning boats and also for women whose families don not have boats but they sell in the market. Some men who weave the nets even their names are included. [But]  no one has received anything."

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“Nowadays youngsters are moving towards fishing since there are no jobs in the market. Instead of having some outsider joining the family business it's better to have someone from our own family. But women are getting into small time jobs since their mothers go to market what will the women do?

But these are simple jobs. See here even studying 10th std is a big deal. But if they are more educated, I will tell you like I have studied still 14th I couldn't do my graduation, but see my daughter she has completed her graduation and now she goes for a job. Even my husband works."

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"The fishing is going to run out soon, the fish is near the kinara (shore) and the sealink is near the shore, there is breeding, like in the monsoon there is breeding. They breed in rocky areas not in muddy area." [indicating how the rocky area near the Worli shoreline was destroyed while building Sealink leading to decrease in fish breeding]

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