Goregaon

For the town, see Goregaon, Raigad district.
Goregaon
गोरेगाव
suburb

The Oberoi Mall and Commerz tower (Westin Hotel), Goregaon, Mumbai.
Goregaon
Coordinates: 19°09′18″N 72°51′00″E / 19.155°N 72.85°E / 19.155; 72.85Coordinates: 19°09′18″N 72°51′00″E / 19.155°N 72.85°E / 19.155; 72.85
Country India
State Maharashtra
District Mumbai Suburban
Metro Mumbai
Government
 • Body Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai (MCGM)
Languages
 • Official Marathi
Time zone IST (UTC+5:30)
Vehicle registration MH-47
Lok Sabha constituency Mumbai North West
Vidhan Sabha constituency Goregaon (covers western part of the suburb)
Dindoshi (covers eastern part of the suburb)

Goregaon is a suburb in the Mumbai city, in the Mumbai Suburban district, India. It is a railway station on the Mumbai suburban railway on the Western Line. An extension of the Harbour Line is under construction, to be completed by 2016.

Bracketed on either side of the railway line by the Western Express Highway and Link Road, Goregaon was primarily a middle-class residential neighbourhood. However, the area is now turning into a wealthy suburb. Famous film studios such as Filmistan and Film City are located here.[1]

Areas

Until the late 1970s, the suburb was sparsely populated which began to change with residential localities that sprung up such as Unnat Nagar Vibhag 1 to 4, Jawahar Nagar, Motilal Nagar, Bangur Nagar, Shastri Nagar, Lokmanya Tilak Nagar Road 1 to 6 (earlier Peoples Colony), Siddharth Nagar, BEST Colony, Piramal Nagar, Mahesh Nagar and Madina Manzil in the West and Pandurang Wadi and Jaiprakash Nagar in the East.

The eastern boundary of the suburb was effectively the Western Express Highway, which separated Goregaon from Aarey Milk Colony. Aarey Milk Colony, established in 1949 and spread over an area of 1,287 hectares, houses thirty two cattle farms, gardens, a nursery, lakes, an observation pavilion, picnic facilities, and milk plants.

The housing boom of the 1980s saw expansion in terms of real estate and population density. On the East, newer areas such as Dindoshi, Gokuldham, Yashodham, Saibaba Complex, Oberoi Garden City Film City Road, Amritvan, etc. and on the West, Bangur Nagar, Lokhandwala Complex (now considered a separate suburb) and Link Road were the development hubs.

Besides the above, Goregaon (E) also is home to the recently developed area known as New Dindoshi consisting of the Nagari Nivara Parishad (NNP), a housing scheme for the lower middle class. There are more than 30,000 people living at NNP, distributed between two zones.[1]

Oberoi Garden City, which has started developing recently, is spread across 80 acres, next to Saibaba Complex. It includes Oberoi Mall, home to the second Starbucks coffee shop opened in Mumbai and also Westin Hotel and Offices. Many other residential and business towers are also being developed.

Goregaon East is the home of Yashodham High School and Gokuldham High School, also St.Thomas High School which is the oldest English medium school in Goregaon East.

Gokuldham in Goregaon (East)

Transport

Goregaon Railway Station is the transport hub of Goregaon. The station, which currently has five platforms, is being expanded as a part of the Harbour Line extension (under MUTP 2) from Andheri.[2] The expansion, involving two additional platforms and an elevated deck with passenger amenities (on the western side of the existing station) is expected to be complete by 2017. A recently constructed sky walk connects one of the foot-over-bridges to S. V. Road near 'Citi Centre'- a shopping complex near the M. G. Road junction. BEST has bus stations on both western as well as eastern side of the railway station. Goregaon Depot, however, is located away from the railway station, on the Link Road.

Now there is a new flyover bridge at Ram Mandir road connecting Goregaon West and East. [3]

Also Oshiwara railway station is expected to be operational by late 2016 or early 2017.

Early history

What is now known as Goregoan Suburb is a conglomeration of four villages: Pahadi, Goregaon, Aarey and Eksar. Goregaon got the railway station in 1862. The suburb was one of the four railway stations between Borivali and Grant Road and was known as Pahadi or Pare.[4] The name of the railway station was subsequently changed to avoid confusing it with Paradi, a railway station in South Gujarat on BB&CI (now Western Railway). On official records, the name of tehasil still appears as Pahadi Goregaon.

The prime land under the mango and guava plantation owned by the Topiwala Desai family was taken over by the Maharashtra government and handed over to the Mumbai Housing Board during the 1950s. The BMC market near Goregaon West railway station is still known as Topiwala Market.

That Goregaon is named after a former resident of the area named Keshav Gore is a popular misconception. The name 'Goregaon' predates the Gores.[5] However, the Gore husband and wife pair (Keshav and Mrinal), who were staunch socialists, remain inspirational figures to local residents, even after death.[1]

Nature and Conservation

Goregaon bounds Sanjay Gandhi National Park from the south-western side and is home to the Conservation Education Centre (CEC) run by the Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS).[6] The area is home to a diverse flora and fauna.

Aarey Colony and high-rises in the background

Recent 'development' on the eastern side has led to a huge amount of deforestation. Leopard sightings and even the occasional attacks[7][8][9][10] are not very rare- and not just in the hamlets inside the Aarey Milk Colony but also in large residential colonies like Nagari Nivara Parishad. Rampant construction in the last decade by builders like Oberoi on green areas has, without a doubt, had a severe impact on local biodiveristy.

Hospitals and Medical Centres

Schools

Colleges

References

  1. 1 2 3 "About Goregaon - Mumbai News".
  2. ↑ http://mmrda.maharashtra.gov.in/mumbai-urban-transport-project-2
  3. ↑ http://www.mid-day.com/articles/mumbai-flyover-connecting-goregaon-east-and-west-to-open-today/17184186
  4. ↑ "History of the Church". St. Thomas Church.
  5. ↑ http://stthomaschurch.in/site/parish/history-of-the-church/
  6. ↑ http://www.bnhs.org/education-mainmenu/about-us.html
  7. ↑ http://www.ndtv.com/article/cities/girl-killed-boy-injured-in-leopard-attack-in-mumbai-426925
  8. ↑ http://www.ndtv.com/article/cities/mumbai-in-third-leopard-attack-in-a-month-seven-year-old-boy-killed-434211
  9. ↑ http://archive.indianexpress.com/news/leopard-kills-50yearold-woman-in-goregaon/1026522/
  10. ↑ http://archive.indianexpress.com/news/nineyearold-killed-in-leopard-attack/1065642/
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