Sagar Hamav’s shift at the Versova Ice Factory runs from 4 pm until midnight. “At this time of year, the entire platform used to be filled with ice. We’d ice fish crates well into the night, cold storages would be packed. Now it’s all empty.”

Built in 1952—and run by Versova’s Kolis—the factory is among the oldest and largest cooperative ice plants in Mumbai, providing the community with subsidised ice. With two ice plants and cold rooms, it once produced over 400 blocks of fresh ice per batch.

At its peak, the factory had 25-30 employees, who kept the plant running 24×7, over 8-hour shifts. Sagar’s days were packed with filling moulds, loading 150 blocks a shift—120 kg each— and seeing off trucks. 

“Rather than getting ice from elsewhere, it was better we produced it in our village,” Sagar, 56, who has been working here for 25 years, says. But even this infrastructure didn’t produce enough for the community’s needs; the society—Versova Koliwada’s cooperative governing bodies, made up of Kolis—often had to bring ice from other factories in Mumbai. The factory is tied to suppliers across the city. Ammonia, filled into cylinders, is sourced from Turbhe, salt from Kharghar. 

As small-scale fishers struggled to compete with large trawlers and deep-sea fleets, fishing declined over the last two decades; even Sagar sold his two boats. Now, the factory runs at half its capacity. “The cold rooms are all dry. From 40 slabs at once, now we can’t even sell two sometimes.”

Since this decline, the society has struggled to turn profit; here, profit isn’t about accumulation but about sustenance. It could mean repairing the two inoperational cold rooms and ice plants, and a decade of overdue pay rise for workers earning ₹8,000–₹10,000 a month. “We need at least 15,000 to manage,” Sagar says. “It’s difficult: the light bill, food, many other expenses.”

Over the years, Sagar has seen his coworkers retire or find other jobs. On days when the work takes a toll on Sagar’s back, his coworkers fill in.

“This business is run on hope. That today or tomorrow, there will be fish in the sea, we’ll get work.”