Vadala Road
Encyclopedia
Wadala (also spelled Vadala, formerly spelt Wuddala) is a residential central suburb of the city of Mumbai
. Wadala Road is a station on the Harbour Line of Mumbai's
railway network.
's Wadala depot, is located here
It also houses one of India's most renowned eye hospitals, Aditya Jyot Eye Hospital
along with the BPT Hospital and the Ackworth Leprosy Hospital. The Ackworth Leprosy Hospital was established during British rule, and part of its complex is now given to an AIDS
awareness organisation as well. The world's first methane
generation plant was set up in the Ackworth hostpital complex.
, Dadar
and Sion.
epidemics of the 1890s. According to the survey plan, 85,000 people were to be accommodated in the developments in Wadala.
The plans regulated constructions with emphasis on proper sanitation
. Buildings were to be three storeys high, and were to have open spaces between them. The land-use was planned to be a mix of residential, commercial and institutional constructions. Parks and gardens were planned, and the streets were well laid out.
440 acres (1.8 km²) of land was procured and leased to the Government for selling. For the first time housing cooperatives were formed to take advantage of newly developed land. The Parsi (Zoroastrian) and Hindu
colonies in Dadar
-Wadala and the Tamil
colony in Wadala-Matunga
were developed in this way.
During the Civil Disobedience Movement
, the Wadala Salt Works was raided by around 1,500 volunteers of the Congress party on June 1st 1930. The incident occurred after an appeal was made in the Congress Bulletin of May 31st, to challenge the 'British anarchy'. The government reacted quickly and 11 women were detained.
on the West, Matunga
on the Northwest, and Sewri
on the South. The western areas of Wadala are covered by salt pans, which are on the shores of the Thane creek. On the Eastern border of Wadala, MMRDA has planned to construct a truck terminus, spread over 115 hectares (1.2 km²). Mumbai will have for the first time a centralized facility for the transport of goods by road.
Wadala has a large number of old temples, university campuses and is also home to the world's largest IMAX
dome theater. It is also home to the Vidyalankar Educational Campus
, whose building design has won an international award viz. Designshare's Honour award. The BEST Transport Museum is also located at Wadala’s Anik Bus depot. It features amateur mini models of BEST buses and the ancient trams.
Wadala is also known for Churches, Temples and Dargas. Near the station is the 400 year old Vitthal
Temple built by Sant Tukaram
who brought the idol from Pandharpur
— home of the original temple of Lord Vithal. The temple is known as Prati Pandharpur (Pandharpur temple’s replica). One of the many one day festivals in Mumbai has been held in this temple to devote Lord Vitthal on Ashadhi Ekadashi (According to Hindu Calendar) in June/July. Near this temple is the 15th-century Lord Ram temple and the Hanuman
temple on the opposite side of the road. The Ram Temple also houses a marriage hall. On David S. Baretto road is located a Krishna Temple which also houses an orphanage. Wadala also has a Balaji Temple, that celebrates the Jatra festival each year in the month of January. Apart from these, there is also a Shiv Temple, a Devi Mandir and a small Gurudwara near the station.
The St. Joseph Church (Our Lady of Dolours Church) is situated on the D.S Barretto Road, between Five Gardens and Wadala station. This also houses the St. Joseph's High School. Opposite is the Don Bosco Shelter which is a centre for the rehabilitation and education of underprivileged children. The Barkat Ali Dargah is located on a hill where the bridge connecting Wadala East to Wadala West ends. It is another of Wadala's landmarks.
The St. Dominic Savio Church is located in Wadala East. This church, built in 1981, was the first of Mumbai churches to be situated on the first floor.
Wadala (East) houses two cemeteries - the Bahá'í
Cemetery and the Chinese
Cemetery. These cemeteries were laid out in Wadala a long time ago, for the same reason that the Ackworth Leprosy Home was built at Wadala viz. Wadala was considered a distant suburb of the city.
A number of housing colonies exist in Wadala. Some of them are Bhakti Park, Dosti Acres
, Eucress and Lloyd's Estate. Wadala East also has the BPT (now MbPT housing colony), a large sprawling colony for the port workers complete with a hospital. Near Antop Hill, the government of India
established the Intellectual Property
Office responsible for Controlling General of Patents, Designs and Trademarks in India.
About 2 kilometers from Wadala Station East, past the truck terminus, is Flamingo Bay. From 1994, lesser flamingo
s have been wintering here. From December to March, thousands of flamingos descend on the mudflats, a mile from the shore, to feed on the nutrient-rich marshes. The proposed Nhava Sheva
bridge that will connect the island to the mainland has faced criticism from environmentalists, who allege that the habitat of these birds would be destroyed if the project is approved and completed.
Over the years, slum
development had started in Wadala adjacent to the railway tracks and a large colony began to form. In 2006, the state government
took action and cleared the area of slums.
Shobha Maternity Hospital
Ackworth Leprosy Hospital
Mumbai Port Trust Hospital
Aditya Eye hospital
Mumbai
Mumbai , formerly known as Bombay in English, is the capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the most populous city in India, and the fourth most populous city in the world, with a total metropolitan area population of approximately 20.5 million...
. Wadala Road is a station on the Harbour Line of Mumbai's
Mumbai
Mumbai , formerly known as Bombay in English, is the capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the most populous city in India, and the fourth most populous city in the world, with a total metropolitan area population of approximately 20.5 million...
railway network.
Overview
Wadala has several schools and some renowned institutions like Veermata Jijabai Technological Institute (V.J.T.I), The University Institute of Chemical Technology (formerly The University Department of Chemical Technology (UDCT)) and Khalsa College, located near one another. SNDT Women's University, Dr. Ambedkar Commerce & Law College also has a campus in Wadala West. The local college of Wadala is SIWS near the Wadala station. The largest bus depot in Mumbai, BESTBrihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport
The BEST ) is Mumbai's public transport service and electricity provider....
's Wadala depot, is located here
It also houses one of India's most renowned eye hospitals, Aditya Jyot Eye Hospital
Aditya Jyot Eye Hospital
Aditya Jyot Eye Hospital is one of Mumbai's leading eye hospital. It was rated as 'the best eye hospital in Mumbai' by Outlook , an Indian weekly news magazine in its July 2002 issue.- History :...
along with the BPT Hospital and the Ackworth Leprosy Hospital. The Ackworth Leprosy Hospital was established during British rule, and part of its complex is now given to an AIDS
AIDS
Acquired immune deficiency syndrome or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome is a disease of the human immune system caused by the human immunodeficiency virus...
awareness organisation as well. The world's first methane
Methane
Methane is a chemical compound with the chemical formula . It is the simplest alkane, the principal component of natural gas, and probably the most abundant organic compound on earth. The relative abundance of methane makes it an attractive fuel...
generation plant was set up in the Ackworth hostpital complex.
Prehistoric
Wadala was one of the seven islands that were joined together to form the modern island of Mumbai. The island used to be called by different names viz. ParelParel
Lower Parel or Parel is central part of Mumbai. It is also lends its name to two railway stations on the Mumbai suburban railway. Most of the mills in Mumbai used to be in this area till some years ago...
, Dadar
Dadar
Dadar is a place in Mumbai, and is also a railway station on both the Western and Central lines of the Mumbai Suburban Railway network. Dadar is situated in the heart of Mumbai, and Dadar station is the only railway station common to both the Central and Western lines...
and Sion.
19th Century
The Dadar-Matunga-Wadala-Sion scheme of 1899-1900 was the first planned suburban scheme in Bombay. The Bombay City Improvement Trust which was set after a bill was passed in the British parliament, formulated this plan in order to relieve congestion in the centre of the town, following the plagueBubonic plague
Plague is a deadly infectious disease that is caused by the enterobacteria Yersinia pestis, named after the French-Swiss bacteriologist Alexandre Yersin. Primarily carried by rodents and spread to humans via fleas, the disease is notorious throughout history, due to the unrivaled scale of death...
epidemics of the 1890s. According to the survey plan, 85,000 people were to be accommodated in the developments in Wadala.
The plans regulated constructions with emphasis on proper sanitation
Sanitation
Sanitation is the hygienic means of promoting health through prevention of human contact with the hazards of wastes. Hazards can be either physical, microbiological, biological or chemical agents of disease. Wastes that can cause health problems are human and animal feces, solid wastes, domestic...
. Buildings were to be three storeys high, and were to have open spaces between them. The land-use was planned to be a mix of residential, commercial and institutional constructions. Parks and gardens were planned, and the streets were well laid out.
440 acres (1.8 km²) of land was procured and leased to the Government for selling. For the first time housing cooperatives were formed to take advantage of newly developed land. The Parsi (Zoroastrian) and Hindu
Hindu
Hindu refers to an identity associated with the philosophical, religious and cultural systems that are indigenous to the Indian subcontinent. As used in the Constitution of India, the word "Hindu" is also attributed to all persons professing any Indian religion...
colonies in Dadar
Dadar
Dadar is a place in Mumbai, and is also a railway station on both the Western and Central lines of the Mumbai Suburban Railway network. Dadar is situated in the heart of Mumbai, and Dadar station is the only railway station common to both the Central and Western lines...
-Wadala and the Tamil
Tamil people
Tamil people , also called Tamils or Tamilians, are an ethnic group native to Tamil Nadu, India and the north-eastern region of Sri Lanka. Historic and post 15th century emigrant communities are also found across the world, notably Malaysia, Singapore, Mauritius, South Africa, Australia, Canada,...
colony in Wadala-Matunga
Matunga
Matunga is a district located in the central part of Mumbai. It is a railway station on the Mumbai Suburban Railway network. This station is called Matunga on the Central railway line, Matunga Road on the Western line and King's Circle, on the Harbour Line...
were developed in this way.
20th Century
In 1915 the Port Trust Railway opened the Wadala Ballard Pier railway line. Petrol and kerosene installations also came up in Wadala. The Veermata Jijabai Technological Institute (formerly the Victoria Jubilee Technological Institute) moved to its present campus at Wadala in 1923. The Institute of Chemical Technology (formerly the University Department of Chemical Technology) was established in Wadala in 1934.During the Civil Disobedience Movement
Salt Satyagraha
The Salt March, also known as the Salt Satyagrahah began with the Dandi March on March 12, 1930, and was an important part of the Indian independence movement. It was a campaign of tax resistance and nonviolent protest against the British salt monopoly in colonial India, and triggered the wider...
, the Wadala Salt Works was raided by around 1,500 volunteers of the Congress party on June 1st 1930. The incident occurred after an appeal was made in the Congress Bulletin of May 31st, to challenge the 'British anarchy'. The government reacted quickly and 11 women were detained.
Geography
Wadala used to be considered as a central suburb of the city of Mumbai, but is now well within the city limits. The area is bordered by DadarDadar
Dadar is a place in Mumbai, and is also a railway station on both the Western and Central lines of the Mumbai Suburban Railway network. Dadar is situated in the heart of Mumbai, and Dadar station is the only railway station common to both the Central and Western lines...
on the West, Matunga
Matunga
Matunga is a district located in the central part of Mumbai. It is a railway station on the Mumbai Suburban Railway network. This station is called Matunga on the Central railway line, Matunga Road on the Western line and King's Circle, on the Harbour Line...
on the Northwest, and Sewri
Sewri
Sewri is a suburb of Mumbai. It is also the name of a railway station on the Mumbai suburban railway.Neighbouring stations: Cotton Green, Wadala Road....
on the South. The western areas of Wadala are covered by salt pans, which are on the shores of the Thane creek. On the Eastern border of Wadala, MMRDA has planned to construct a truck terminus, spread over 115 hectares (1.2 km²). Mumbai will have for the first time a centralized facility for the transport of goods by road.
Landmarks and architecture
IMAX
IMAX is a motion picture film format and a set of proprietary cinema projection standards created by the Canadian company IMAX Corporation. IMAX has the capacity to record and display images of far greater size and resolution than conventional film systems...
dome theater. It is also home to the Vidyalankar Educational Campus
Vidyalankar Institute of Technology
Vidyalankar Institute of Technology is an engineering degree college approved by the All India Council For Technical Education and affiliated to University of Mumbai, India....
, whose building design has won an international award viz. Designshare's Honour award. The BEST Transport Museum is also located at Wadala’s Anik Bus depot. It features amateur mini models of BEST buses and the ancient trams.
Wadala is also known for Churches, Temples and Dargas. Near the station is the 400 year old Vitthal
Vithoba
Vithoba , also known as Vitthala and Panduranga , is a Hindu god, worshipped predominantly in the Indian states of Maharashtra, Karnataka, Goa and Andhra Pradesh. He is generally considered a manifestation of the Hindu god Vishnu or his Avatar Krishna...
Temple built by Sant Tukaram
Tukaram
Sant Tukaram was a prominent Varkari Sant and spiritual poet during a Bhakti movement in India.Sant Tukaram was born and lived most of his life in Dehu, a town close to Pune in Mahārāshtra, India. He was born to a couple with the family name "More", the descendent of the Mourya Clan with first...
who brought the idol from Pandharpur
Pandharpur
Pandharpur is an important pilgrimage city on the Bhimā river in Solāpur district, Maharashtra, India. The Vithoba temple attracts about half a million Hindu pilgrims during the major yātrā in the month of Ashadh ....
— home of the original temple of Lord Vithal. The temple is known as Prati Pandharpur (Pandharpur temple’s replica). One of the many one day festivals in Mumbai has been held in this temple to devote Lord Vitthal on Ashadhi Ekadashi (According to Hindu Calendar) in June/July. Near this temple is the 15th-century Lord Ram temple and the Hanuman
Hanuman
Hanuman , is a Hindu deity, who is an ardent devotee of Rama, a central character in the Indian epic Ramayana and one of the dearest devotees of lord Rama. A general among the vanaras, an ape-like race of forest-dwellers, Hanuman is an incarnation of the divine and a disciple of Lord Rama in the...
temple on the opposite side of the road. The Ram Temple also houses a marriage hall. On David S. Baretto road is located a Krishna Temple which also houses an orphanage. Wadala also has a Balaji Temple, that celebrates the Jatra festival each year in the month of January. Apart from these, there is also a Shiv Temple, a Devi Mandir and a small Gurudwara near the station.
The St. Joseph Church (Our Lady of Dolours Church) is situated on the D.S Barretto Road, between Five Gardens and Wadala station. This also houses the St. Joseph's High School. Opposite is the Don Bosco Shelter which is a centre for the rehabilitation and education of underprivileged children. The Barkat Ali Dargah is located on a hill where the bridge connecting Wadala East to Wadala West ends. It is another of Wadala's landmarks.
The St. Dominic Savio Church is located in Wadala East. This church, built in 1981, was the first of Mumbai churches to be situated on the first floor.
Wadala (East) houses two cemeteries - the Bahá'í
Bahá'í Faith
The Bahá'í Faith is a monotheistic religion founded by Bahá'u'lláh in 19th-century Persia, emphasizing the spiritual unity of all humankind. There are an estimated five to six million Bahá'ís around the world in more than 200 countries and territories....
Cemetery and the Chinese
Chinese people
The term Chinese people may refer to any of the following:*People with Han Chinese ethnicity ....
Cemetery. These cemeteries were laid out in Wadala a long time ago, for the same reason that the Ackworth Leprosy Home was built at Wadala viz. Wadala was considered a distant suburb of the city.
A number of housing colonies exist in Wadala. Some of them are Bhakti Park, Dosti Acres
Dosti Acres
Dosti Acres is a large residential complex constructed by the Dosti Group of Mumbai, housing more than 1200 families. It is located at New Wadala, Mumbai, which is the name given to that area in Wadala, which is predominantly residential....
, Eucress and Lloyd's Estate. Wadala East also has the BPT (now MbPT housing colony), a large sprawling colony for the port workers complete with a hospital. Near Antop Hill, the government of India
Government of India
The Government of India, officially known as the Union Government, and also known as the Central Government, was established by the Constitution of India, and is the governing authority of the union of 28 states and seven union territories, collectively called the Republic of India...
established the Intellectual Property
Intellectual property
Intellectual property is a term referring to a number of distinct types of creations of the mind for which a set of exclusive rights are recognized—and the corresponding fields of law...
Office responsible for Controlling General of Patents, Designs and Trademarks in India.
About 2 kilometers from Wadala Station East, past the truck terminus, is Flamingo Bay. From 1994, lesser flamingo
Lesser Flamingo
The Lesser Flamingo is a species in the flamingo family of birds that resides in Africa and in southern Asia...
s have been wintering here. From December to March, thousands of flamingos descend on the mudflats, a mile from the shore, to feed on the nutrient-rich marshes. The proposed Nhava Sheva
Nhava Sheva
Nhava Sheva, officially Jawaharlal Nehru Port, is the 6th largest port and the largest container port in India. Located in Maharashtra, the port on the Arabian Sea is accessed via Thane Creek.- History :...
bridge that will connect the island to the mainland has faced criticism from environmentalists, who allege that the habitat of these birds would be destroyed if the project is approved and completed.
Over the years, slum
Slum
A slum, as defined by United Nations agency UN-HABITAT, is a run-down area of a city characterized by substandard housing and squalor and lacking in tenure security. According to the United Nations, the percentage of urban dwellers living in slums decreased from 47 percent to 37 percent in the...
development had started in Wadala adjacent to the railway tracks and a large colony began to form. In 2006, the state government
Government of Maharashtra
Government of Maharashtra is the government for the state of Maharashtra in Western India.It is an elected government with 288 MLAs elected to the legislative assembly for a 5 year term.-Ministers:...
took action and cleared the area of slums.
Utilities
Wadala is supplied electricity by BEST. Wadala experiences very few electricity cuts in a year, if at all. There are a number of schools, colleges and hospitals. There are police stations in both Wadala West and East. The Voice of Wadala is the neighbourhood newsletter, in print since 1988. One of the concerns for residents of Wadala is that it does not have any malls or supermarkets. For shopping, one has to use local shops, or travel to Matunga or Dadar.List of schools
- SIWS (South Indian Welfare Society) (School & College)
- The Don Bosco High School
- Auxilium Convent High School
- St. Joseph's High School
- NKES (National Kannada Education Society's) High School
- AES (Andhra Education Society's) High School & Junior College
- Bansidhar Agarwal School
- Sitaram Prakash High School
- Amulakh Amichand School
- The Dadar Parsee Youths Assembly High School
- JB Vachha High School
- Nadkarni Park Municipal School
- C.G.E.E.S High School
- Dnyaneshwar Vidyalaya
- Knowledge center (Mumbai School)
- Nirmal Vidyalaya School, Ganesh Nagar
- Korba Mithagar Municipal School, Wadala East
List of colleges
- Vidyalankar Campus (Engineering (UG & PG), Science and Management Colleges)Vidyalankar Institute of TechnologyVidyalankar Institute of Technology is an engineering degree college approved by the All India Council For Technical Education and affiliated to University of Mumbai, India....
- Veermata Jijabai Technological Institute (V.J.T.I)
- The Institute of Chemical Technology (formerly UDCT)
- Dr. Ambedkar college of Commerce & Economics (D.A. College)
- Khalsa College
- The Andhra Education Society's Junior College of Science & Commerce
- Mumbai College of science and commerce
- Mumbai Institute of Management and Research
- SIWS (South Indian Welfare Society)
- Kala Saadhna (classical dance music academy)
List of Hospitals
BPT HospitalShobha Maternity Hospital
Ackworth Leprosy Hospital
Mumbai Port Trust Hospital
Aditya Eye hospital
See also
- Mumbai Suburban RailwayMumbai Suburban RailwayThe Mumbai Suburban Railway system, part of the public transport system of Mumbai, is provided for by the state-run Indian Railways' two zonal Western Railways and Central Railways. The system carries more than 6.99 million commuters on a daily basis. It has the highest passenger densities of any...