The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) is set to revive the Mahim Koliwada Seafood Plaza, a weekend seafood market located at Mahim Beach, before Diwali this year. Closed during the monsoon season — June to September — the seafood plaza has frequently run into internal political disputes, leading to it being closed intermittently since it was launched by the civic body in November 2023.
The BMC provides infrastructure and resources such as seating arrangements, stall infrastructure, and electric lighting for the plaza. After it was closed for the monsoon season of 2024, the project did not kickstart again last year following the demand made by the Koli community in Mahim that only Koli families should be allotted stalls at the seafood plaza.
The project was restarted in 2025 and closed again for this monsoon season. A senior civic official said, “There are some concerns raised by the local federations about who gets to operate the stalls. These are being looked into (with sensitivity). We have a lot of good plans for the seafood plaza, and we aim to reopen it.”
Within the first three months of its launch in 2023, it had witnessed a high footfall and grown in popularity, with over 30,000 visitors. According to information from a federation leader of the Mahim Koliwada community, there are three federations in the area, which have each insisted that only Kolis should be allowed to operate stalls.
The BMC, after stakeholder meetings with the Koli community, has allotted stalls to women’s self-help groups that also live in the internal portion of the Koliwad, across the road from the plaza. “The BMC has allotted stalls to Kolis, but there are self-help groups that have demanded only women living along the coast at the Mahim beach should be allowed to do business. The matter has been taken up legally by the community. However, the dispute has caused uncertainty about how to restart the plaza among the local residents,” a community member said.
