



Fishing equipment like plastic boxes, ice boxes are stored along the khalis near the temple.
Some new and abandoned boats are parked near the chapel and temple corridor.
In the absence of fishing activity, grass grows in the khalis. Parked boats join older, abandoned boats, anchors, and other fishing equipment in the area.
As fishing resumes, boats are moved from the temple or chapel area toward the jetty. As the monsoon recedes, new infrastructure activity begins, such as the construction of pavements and the installation of new community bins.
Khali spaces are used for parking boats when kolim is not being dried.
Fresh kolim is caught early morning during the kolim season a immediately brought to the khalis and handed over to women who then immediately start with the drying process.
Other fishes like Bombil (Bombay duck) drying near the temple/church.
Temporary structures are set up around the khali area to store equipment required for maintaining and using the khalis, as well as for drying kolim.
Spaces around the temple and church are used as boat parking areas. These spaces are also alternately used for drying kolim in summer season.
The congress grass grows all over the khali area and turns pale in post monsoon season. The area around the fort is strewn with construction debris prior to the start of kolim season.
The khalis and pavement are both made of cement, unlike the 'shen' (cow dung) that was used earlier. Earlier, cattle dung was brought from Bandra by boat, but this practice stopped in the 1990s when the city’s cattle sheds were closed and relocated.
However, the cement in the khalis also deteriorates each year and and has to periodically maintained after the monsoon.
Khalis have a multiplicity of uses. In the summer, other than Kolim, women use them to dry items like bedding or foodstuffs like grains and chilli in preparation for the monsoon season.
A woman flips the Kolim at a khali right by the fort wall. Every inch of the khali area is methodically utilized. If there is more Kolim than they have space for on their own khalis, women sometimes use adjacent khalis to dry their catch.
Kolim are not caught by all fishers every day, which means some khalis remain unused on certain days. During lean periods, fishers often dry other varieties of fish such as Bombay duck, vakti, and more.
The khalis are located around the historic Worli Fort and lie adjacent to the Koli village.
The lush green landscape turns brown as the Congress grass wilts after the monsoon. The dried grass once again exposes the mix of cement and red soil on the concretized earth. Intertidal waste and construction debris will slowly be cleared in preparation for the kolim season.
Boundaries and demarcations of different khalis vanish with the monsoon . The cement on the khalis breaks down due to rain and the congress grass takes over the khali area. The congress grass turns from green to pale yellow as it dries out during the winter season.
Rocks, fences and other markers are installed in the post monsoon season on the khalis.
Khali women workers winnow and spread kolim across the khalis on a hot morning. The prawns are dried from early morning until evening before being collected in bags and sold to traders by the women. Crows enjoy some of the fruits of their labour.
The area is cleared of the debris, the khalis are repaired and cemented with demarcation rocks put in place in preparation for the kolim season.

Winter smog engulfs Worli and beyond.

Worli Koliwada celebrates the Golphadevi festival every January. As one of the sea-based deities believed to protect the village from harm, fishers seek Golphadevi’s blessings before weddings, during the fishing season, and prior to the construction of large infrastructure projects.

Waves of garbage wash up near Koliwada during the high tide.

There are two vendors who supply ice in Worli Koliwada. These shops also double up as vegetable and ice gola stalls.
Several women buy ice from them depending on the quantity of fish they have. During the hot summer months, the ice melts quickly, adding to the cost of preserving unsold fish.
With increasing levels of pollution, smog is now a common sight around Worli Koliwada during winter.The season is also marked by festivities and weddings in the community.
Post-monsoon, fishing picks up after the two-month fishing ban. As more fish arrive, the fish market sees more and more customers.
During the Kolim season, dried Kolim is stored wherever possible. It can be seen kept both inside and outside houses, in drums and toplis (baskets). This Kolim is later sold in markets or kept for household use.
When there is no kolim to dry, Khali spaces near the village sometimes turn into a parking area for motorbikes .
The Worli Koliwada has its own fish market, and people from outside the Koliwada also come here to buy fish. While the market is usually crowded on some days, it has a deserted look on others.
On vaars (religious days) like Mondays and Thursdays, women do not sell fish as people fast and avoid visiting the market.
During the peak summer season in Worli Koliwada, women have to spend more money on ice to keep the fish fresh. Crabs, bangda, and modka wilt quickly in the summer heat at the Worli fish market, as women struggle to sell them before the market closes for the day.t

In Worli Koliwada, families use stones to demarcate the khali spaces they own. The stones mark ownership of a particular area. Khalis have been part of Koli families for seven generations.

In the past, shen (cow dung) was used to make the khalis. Today, both the khalis and the pavement are made of cement instead.
Cement, unlike shen, lasts through the season. At that time, shen was brought from Bandra via boats, but this stopped in the 1990s due to the closure of animal sheds.

Shubha, a khali worker in her 60s, was wearing a scarf topped with a white hat, taking a breather after collecting and tying bags of kolim.
This was part of the 30 kilograms she processes daily. She handles the entire process herself—drying, winnowing, and packing—before the wholesale traders arrive, to whom she sells the catch every evening during the kolim season. Her khali is right at the edge of the creek, facing Mahim Bay.

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During the winter season, when there is no kolim catch, the khali grounds were recently used for a 'Koli Food Festival,' where locals sold Koli cuisine.
Similar initiatives have taken place in a few Koliwadas—Mahim, Versova, etc.—in Mumbai, where the shorefront is used to set up makeshift tents and seating to serve Koli food.

The church and temple are located near the khalis. During the kolim season, the spaces outside the temples are used for both drying kolim and parking boats, depending on the kolim catch and fishing activity.

Like the khalis, the pathway leading to the jetty and the areas in and around the khalis are now concretized. Every year, the pavements are repaired.
The jetty is not only a fish landing harbour but also a place where residents of the Koliwada gather to catch up at the end of the day..