The Congress high command has asked the state government to initiate dialogue and formulate a new policy for the development of these gaothans.
Fed up with the state government’s lackadaisical approach to the development of the city’s koliwadas and gaothans, the fishermen approached Union environment minister Jairam Ramesh and Congress president Sonia Gandhi, who appear to have taken the matter seriously.
The Congress high command has asked the state government to initiate dialogue and formulate a new policy for the development of these gaothans. “We are considering a new policy of cluster development of the koliwadas and gaothans. The department is formulating a new formula for re-consideration of the FSI for those living within the Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) because the present FSI of 1 is quite less,” minister for housing Sachin Ahir told DNA.
“We are also of the view that the kolis and those living in gaothans in CRZs need relief. We have asked the secretary to develop a policy with this in mind. We will soon present the policy to the kolis and other villagers for suggestions and objections,” Ahir said.
The National Association for Fishermen (NAF) has been demanding that the koliwadas and gaothans in CRZs be given an FSI of 4 to 5, because the number of families have grown. “We have spoken to the ministers and tried to explain to them that we are not opposed to development, as long as we get our rights. We need a minimum of FSI of 4-5. We also are clear that the builder will be a koli, or one of our choice,” Gajendra Bhanji, president of NAF.
Bhanji alleged that under the guise of development, many builders and housing societies have clamped down on the rights of the kolis and the fish-eating communities. “After the cluster development of the kolis in Worli, the new residents began objecting to the smell of fish, our cooking, and our lifestyle. Ours is a village life, but the non-koli communities don’t understand it and want us to leave,” said Bhanji.
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