Sassoon Dock: Mumbai’s Oldest Fishing Harbour Faces A Storm

Every morning, long before the city stirs awake, Sassoon Dock hums to life. The air smells of salt, fish, and sweat. Koli fisherwomen, clad in bright sarees and sharp tongues, bargain over heaps of prawns, Bombay duck, and pomfret. Auctioneers’ voices rise above the din. Trucks jostle for space, loading seafood destined for hotels, markets, and export hubs across the country. For over a century, this rhythm has remained unchanged. Sassoon Dock is not just a place of commerce. It is a monument to Mumbai’s maritime soul.

Built in 1875 by David Sassoon, Sassoon dock is Mumbai’s oldest fishing harbour. It is a cultural hub for the Koli community, now caught between redevelopment pressures and the fight to preserve tradition.

But today, the dock stands at the center of a dispute over control and livelihood. Earlier this week, the Mumbai Port Trust (MBPT) sought police protection to vacate godowns at Sassoon Dock, escalating a dispute with the Maharashtra government and the fisherfolk. Officially, it's about leases and overdue rent, but for the Koli community, it threatens their way of life.

A Dispute Turns Bitter

At the heart of the conflict is a web of subleases and unpaid dues. For decades, the Maharashtra State Fisheries Development Corporation (MFDC) leased dock godowns from MBPT and sublet them to seafood suppliers and traders. These suppliers say they paid rent to the MFDC and have valid receipts. However, MBPT alleges the state corporation failed to pay at official Ready Reckoner rates, causing arrears and legal action.

When suppliers sought clarity, they were told they were “illegal sub-tenants” under the Port, Provident, and Easement (PPE) Act. The label left them stranded, legally invisible despite forming the backbone of Mumbai’s seafood export chain.

The situation worsened when MBPT issued advertisements inviting new tenants to lease the godowns. For the dock’s fisherfolk, this wasn’t merely administrative housekeeping; it was a blow, an omen that godowns could fall to outsiders, ripping away Sassoon Dock’s very soul.

A Community Betrayed?

“This is nothing less than an attack on our very survival,” says Krishna Pawle, President of the Sassoon Docks Masemari Bunder Bachao Kruti Samiti. His voice trembles with anger and betrayal. Just months ago, Fisheries Minister Nitesh Rane had promised, in public and in private, that Sassoon Dock would be protected. Now, with MBPT pressing on, shielded by police support, those promises feel like cruel echoes.

Fishing unions have drawn a line in the sand. They demand that the state government intervene decisively, take responsibility for safeguarding livelihoods, and prevent any forced eviction. “Sassoon Dock is the pride of Maharashtra,” one union statement declares. “We will not let it be destroyed.” Protests, they warn, are imminent if their calls go unheard.

History At Stake

Sassoon Dock was Mumbai's first wet dock, and one of the earliest in India to allow steamships. Over the decades, it became the centre of Mumbai’s fishing industry, particularly for the indigenous Koli community, the city’s original inhabitants.

For generations, Sassoon Dock has been more than a workplace. It is where fishing families have woven their joys and losses, where daughters learned to argue with the same fire as their mothers, and where the city’s seafood trade took root. Even as Mumbai soared with steel towers, Sassoon Dock clung fiercely to tradition, loud, chaotic, steadfast. To lose it would mean tearing out a piece of the city’s heart.

The Stakes Ahead

The godowns at the dock are not simply storage spaces. They are the arteries through which Mumbai’s seafood economy flows. Their eviction would paralyse fish landings, auctions, and cold storage. Supply chains, from the smallest fish market to the largest export shipment, would be disrupted.

Beyond economics, the dispute exposes a raw anxiety: what future does Mumbai envision for its waterfronts? In a city where every inch of land is contested, fisherfolk dread that Sassoon Dock could soon fall to redevelopment, its vibrant world paved over for a gentrified promenade, erasing the very people whose lives and livelihoods have given it meaning.

For now, the battle lines are clear. On one side, a government body armed with police support and legal technicalities. On the other hand, a community bound by tradition, livelihood, and a fierce determination to defend its heritage.

As the sun sets over Colaba’s restless waters, boats return heavy with the day’s catch, and the dock bristles with life. Yet under these familiar rhythms, a heavy unease lingers. The struggle for Sassoon Dock is no longer about rent or contracts, it is about survival, memory, and who holds the soul of Mumbai’s oldest fishing harbour: the people who built its legacy, or faceless forces now threatening its future.