Bandra Residents Threaten Legal Action Over Koli Food Plaza

Protesters fear more food stalls will mean more waste, rats on Carter Road promenade and traffic chaos

- Linah Baliga

MUMBAI: A group of concerned citizens from Bandra West, under the banner of IMPACT (Citizens Movement for Environment and Civic Action), has warned that it will take legal action if the BMC does not immediately withdraw the plan to set up a seafood plaza at the Khar Danda Koliwada for local Koli women.

The plaza is to come up at the end of the Carter Road promenade used by the elite residents of Bandra-Khar, and the proposal has thus put them in direct conflict with the traditional fishing community of Khar Danda. The plaza is proposed to be held three evenings a week on Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays.

Koli women, who are the original inhabitants of the area, and some residents who support them, opined that the tail end of the promenade is a "democratic space" and was extended as a promenade much later in 2018 by the Khar Bandra Santacruz (KBS) Foundation. It was never a part of the original Carter Road promenade started by the Bandra West Residents Association (BWRA) which culminated at the amphitheatre.