Ghatkopar

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Ghatkopar is a suburb of Mumbai. It is also the name of a railway station on the Mumbai suburban railway on the Central Railway line.

Contents

[edit] History

Ghatkopar was a quaint village in 1920’s and 30’s. It came under Bombay Municipal Corporation. It was not a part of Bombay. Bombay's limits were up to Sion only and Ghatkopar came under district Thane.

Like all small community centres, Ghatkopar also had just one principal road connecting it to Bombay on the Southside and Thane in the north i.e; Agra road. It was surrounded by creeks and hills.

There are two popularly known theories for the name Ghatkopar :

  1. It derived its name from the fact that it was the Khopara (Marathi for "Corner") of Western Ghats - Ghat-khopra.
  2. It derived its name from the fact that there were many Ghats (Marathi for "Small Hills"), small river near the Eastern Express Highway where a lot of salt pans were there near Ghatkopar , so when people use to direct the way to reach these places they use to call it "Ghat ke oopar ("Above the Hill").

Another less popular theory is "Ghatoba-ke-par".

Ghatkopar was inhabited mainly by two types of people. Those who came from proper Bombay in need of good and healthy climatic conditions of the sanatoriums and those rich Bhatias, Parsees, and very few Gujrati Traders who owned large plots of land and bungalows here. Population was sparse and everyone knew each other . It was a close knit family. The streets were named after some of the renowned residents of the area like Navrojee lane named after Navrojee Sheth - a Parsee, Cama lane comes from Lady Cama Bai, Khot lane from people who ploughed and looked after farming activities of the place, Hingwala lane from a family that dealt in Asafoetida business, Khetani chowk named after Durlabhji Keshavji Khetani a renowned industrialist and philanthropist whose descendants still live in Ghatkopar.

The streets were without electric lights, and were lit with petromax lights which was lit by a man coming in every evening to light them up in every street. Roads were metal roads raised in the middle so that the rain water could slope down into the gutters and did not accumulate on the roads. Roads were sprinkled with water by the vans of municipality twice in the mornings and evenings.

By 1916, Ghatkopar had developed sufficiently that a municipal council for Ghatkopar-Kirol was set up. The administration was in charge of a Collector with the "Suburban District". In 1945, Ghatkopar was absorbed into Greater Bombay.

[edit] Geography

Within Ghatkopar are Ghatkopar (West) - the area of Ghatkopar west of the railway line, Ghatkopar (East) - the area of Ghatkopar east of the railway line, Garodia Nagar - a large development developed by (and on land owned by) the Garodia family, Pant Nagar, and Rajawadi.

[edit] Ghatkopar (West)

Himalaya Society in Ghatkopar west area which falls in Asalpha, is specifically well developed residential area with local transport of the BEST route No. 429 from ghatkopar west station. Himalaya society was founded by Mr. Singh, basically from Nainital, bought this small piece of land at cheap price. He wanted Pahadis coming to Bombay in search of work, to get settled in Himalaya society. He first built 5 buildings, A,B,C,D & E, where only pahadis were staying. Himalaya society was a pahadi colony now is called as a Gujarati colony due to increase in Bhanushali community. Himalaya society has a total of 30+ buildings consisting of different people, Gujaratis, Marathis, Pahadis, Tamils etc. On the very latest, Gujaratis (Bhanushalis) are buying all the flats available for sale and are making Himalaya society look like a small gujarat. Asalpha is also connected to the Ghatkopar-Andheri link road which has become one of the most busiest lanes not only during peak hours but also off peak, which connects to saki naka (Andheri) and Powai.

Hindu Sabha Hospital in Ghatkopar West housed Hindu Sabha Library. This library had a very large membership and large collection of Gujarati books and magazines.

Sohrab Baug, a mango orchard spread across thirteen acres, in the western part of Ghatkopar, was sold to the Kapur family by a Parsi agriculturalist. The Kapurs have re-developed this property with several apartment complexes – one in collaboration with Godrej Properties "Grenville Park" and others like "Garden Court" privately.

Located in this 13 acre property is Grentex & Co. which is a family managed firm, also privately owned by the Kapurs, namely Ravi and Rajeev Kapur, and was incorporated in 1982. Grentex is the first 'Fernmark' Licensee in India and a brand partner spinner of high quality wool yarn out of New Zealand wool. The Kapur Estate in Ghatkopar is a family owned property handed down from generation to generation. The heirs to this colossal Estate are the Great grandchildren of Shri Gokalchand Kapur - Gaurav, Priya, Varun and Viraj Kapur.

[edit] Pant Nagar

Pant Nagar is a reasonable part of Ghatkopar East, Mumbai, which is a middle class residential and commercial area. Pant Nagar neighbours with small colonial groups, like Naidu Colony, Samata Colony and Housing Board association buildings. The Thane end of Ghatkopar Station East opens in Pant Nagar. One can go to Pant Nagar through the Patel Chowk ( a minute away from the Station ), and from there through a market. Many of the buildings are being re-developed into fancy Steel and Glass structures. While many of the structures in Pant Nagar are of the old industrial workers dwelling ( 3 floors of 10 numbers of self contained 1-Room-1 kitchen with Toilet/Bathroom on each floor, sharing a common passage way for entry), these are being re-developed in to Towers with lifts and car parks.

Pant Nagar has easy access to the North Eastern Express way, leading to Thane on the north side and Down Town (VT, Nariman Point) on the south side. The new mono-rail linking Versova and Ghatkopar would have its terminal just outside Pant Nagr. Therefore, real estate prices are rising very fast. Presently it is estimated that the cost per square feet for a redeveloped apartment building in Pant Nagar is Indian Rupees 4000 - 5000 ( US$ 90 - 110 ). The reasons for this extraoridinary rise in the real estate values in pant Nagar is not difficult to understand. It is perhaps, the most connected of the Central Suburbs - Express Way, Local Railway Station, with the Out Station buses stopping at near by Chembur ( 3 Km away ), The Kurla Long Distance Central Railway Terminus easil;y accessible by Local Trains ( Ghatkopar Station ) and road (3 Km), Domestic Airport (15 km way by road ) and International Sahar Airport (10 km away by road) and finally Down Town Mumbai ( a mere 18 km away by road).

The other part of Ghatkopar East is Garodia Nagar, a relatively new development on salt lands owned by the Garodia family. The major schools around this area are Shivaji Technical school and Municipality School (serves from 1st standard through 7th standard) and The Dominic Savio Vidyalaya. However, The Fatima High School, Vidyavihar West, can boast many of itsd students hailing from Pant Nagar. Also, the other popular schools are the North Bombay High School, The Gurukul High School and The Garodia High School.

Pant Nagar was the first place where the famous Labor Union Leader Dr. Datta Samant began his medical practice. In fact the ruins of his residence - cum - clinic still remains. Dr. Datta Samant rose to become the most famous Union Leader and was, perhaps, responsible for the demise of the Textile manufacturing business from Mumbai. Those textile mills lands are now valued at billions of dollars for their owners.

The famous industrial group GODREJ is hardly a kilometre away from Pant Nagar.

Many Pant Nagarites have become successful Business Executives, Professors, Entrepreneurs and Senior Government Officers. Many have also migrated to the United States, United Kingdom and Australasia and keep in touch with their friends in Pant Nagar. One of them has also become the CEo of a multi-billion dollar US Corporation.

Pant Nagar epitomises humility and small inner town beginnings, but leading towards Success beyond imagination to many of its residents and their children.

[edit] Demographics

This middle class suburb consists of predominantly residential and retail establishments. There is a large population of Gujaratis in Ghatkopar and the suburb is often referred to as mini-Gujarat. Rajawadi and Pant Nagar have large Marathi speaking populations. Garodia Nagar is diverse. Areas of Ghatkopar West bordering the neighboring Vikhroli suburb have a large Muslim population.

Meghraj Restaurant marked its presence when they started next to Hindu Smashan Bhumi. The area later on developed up to Amar Mahal. The Income Tax Office came in late 1980s.

Vikrant Building was the largest building in late 70's named after navy ship Vikrant. Construction activities in Ghatkopar boomed in 1960's to 1980's. The prices of real estate went up as new buildings started coming up.

In the late 1970's another residential complex 'JAGDUSHA NAGAR' was built by a Gujrati builder in Ghatkopar (w). The area now has a cosmopolitan crowd but mainly Gujratis. It has a Co-operative bank, a newly built Mahadev Mandir and Jain Derasar. This area is connected to Ghatkopar station by BEST route 416, which takes around 10 minuted to reach Ghatkopar Railway station.

Shrimad Rajchandra Mandir was constructed after Lions Garden was opened. This temple did not have any bells hanging from the ceiling and the road is now named after the temple as Shrimad Rajchandra Marg.

R. B. Mehta Road has three banks, Standard Chartered Bank, Bank of Maharashtra and Canara Bank. Paras Dairy next to Standard Chartered Bank at intersection of Derasar Lane and R. B. Mehta Road, was a major distributor for milk.

[edit] Administration

Ghatkopar is in the N ward of Mumbai (previously referred to as Bombay) municipality. There are three postal codes connected to Ghatkopar. 400077 for Ghatkopar (East), 400086 for Ghatkopar (West),Amrut NAgar and 400075 for Pant Nagar. The post office of Ghatkopar East is in Rajawadi. The post office for Ghatkopar West is right next to Railway Station.

[edit] Local Transport

Ghatkopar is a stop for slow local trains as well as most fast local trains on the Central line of the Mumbai suburban network. The station is equipped to handle 12-car local trains. There are 2 Ghatkopar local trains which originate from Ghatkopar in the morning. These primarily serve the stock brokers who live in Ghatkopar area.

Ghatkopar is well served and well connected by the buses operated by the state-owned BEST. Initially the bus services in Ghatkopar East were routed through M. G. Road. Later on, the buses started plying on R. B. Mehta Road, starting with Route 386. This route is now discontinued. R. B. Mehta Road was served with route number 353 which came from Tagore Nagar, ending in Wadala Bus Depot. As the roads in the new constructed areas of Garodia Nagar, were built wider, bus routes in Garodia Nagar flourished.

The BEST also connects Ghatkopar to almost each and every part of mumbai as you get buses for South Mumbai, Western Mumbai, North East Mumbai and Northern Mumbai. Ideally it is almost a center point of mumbai almost equidistant for all places

The suburb is well connected to all major portions of the city. The major roads in this suburb are Mahatma Gandhi Road, R.B.Mehta Marg (60 ft Road), Barrister Nath Pai Marg (90 feet Road), Tilak Road, Bombay-Agra Road, and Amar Mahal Road. 60 feet Road was named as Ratilal B. Mehta Road in 1970's. The land was mainly covered by a khadi, which was filled up and Garodia Nagar came over the land filled up with water.

Vallabh Baug Lane and M. G. Road intersection (Ghatkopar East) was one of the earlier market area. With a Uma Mahesh temple, Gandhi Market, Somaiya Book Depot, Bharti Jewellars, Ratanshi Khimji Patel, Udupi Restaurant, this area is surely a crowded area in evenings. The next intersection of Tilak Road and Vallabh Baug Lane served as smaller market area. This small market extended towards Bhanushali Wadi. In late evenings, people would come to Trivedi's Paan Shop to have paan. Soft drinks in nearby shops provided a place to meet.

Vallabhbaug lane running from Mahatma Gandhi Road was extended from R.B.Mehta Road to Garodia Nagar and was known as Vallabhbaug Extension.

[edit] Crime

Crime in Ghatkopar consists primarily of petty theft, murders, robberies and crime statistics generally are on the higher end of the spectrum for the Greater Mumbai area. In recent years, Ghatkopar has been disproportionately targeted and affected by sectarian violence. Current crime statistics also show an increase in incidence of robberies and murders in this area.

Four persons were killed and 32 injured when a powerful blast ripped apart a BEST bus in Ghatkopar in northern Mumbai on the night of June 29,2003. This was the second bomb blast in Ghatkopar in eight months. On December 2, 2002, two people died and 28 were injured in another explosion on a BEST bus near Ghatkopar railway station. Mohammed Altaf was the prime accused in the December 2, 2002, bus blast. Along with him were Saquib Nachan, Haseeb Zuber Mullah, Aatif Mullah, Ghulam Sattar, Farhan Khot, Mohammed Kamil, Noor Mohammed Ansari, Anwar Ali and Nadeem Paloba -- all were discharged for lack of evidence - they remain at large.

[edit] Education

Mahesh classes are the best classes of ghatkopar for 10th graders.Apart from a wide range of schools and college mentioned below, there are several coaching classes that contributed towards educating the residents of Ghatkopar. They are V.U.'s Classes, L. N. Mehta Classes, L. N. Mehta Commerce Classes, Jagad Classes, Busa Classes, Viresh Classes and Pravin Commerce Classes. L. N. Mehta Classes were among the earliest private tution classes. Mr. Lalitchandra N. Mehta started the classes in 60's. He worked as vice principal earlier in Ramji Assar commerce high school. One of the first few teachers who joined Mr. L. N. Mehta was Raja sir. Prof. Dhirendra Relia taught Gujarati and Social Studies there. Busa Classes were started in late 70's by Busa Sir, who taught in Gurukul Technical High School earlier. Viresh Classes were started by Kirit Damani in late 70's after a short career in Ramji Ashar Vidyalaya. Pravin Commerce Classes started in late 80's. They moved from Hingwala Lane to R. B. Mehta Road, as the classes flourished. All these classes might be able to claim coaching more than 200,000 students altogether.

Ghatkopar is very active with its Non-Government Organisations like Ghatkopar Central Jaycees, Swadhyay Pariwar, Lions Club of Ghatkopar, Rotary Club of Ghatkopar and so on.

[edit] Educational institutions

Pant Nagar - 400 075

  • Domnic Savio Vidyalaya
  • G.S.P Mandal's Marathi Vidyalaya
  • S.S. Multi Purpose Technical High School
  • Vanita Vikas Mandal High School

Ghatkopar (East) - 400077

  • Smt.P.G.Garodia English High School
  • Ramji Ashar Vidyalaya High School (Gujarati Medium)
  • Sheth Dhanji Devshi Rashtriya Shala
  • Shri D. J. Doshi High School
  • Shree Vikramsinh Shoorsinh Gurukul Technical High School
  • Shree Vadilal Chatrabhuj Gurukul Gujarati High School
  • Smt. L D Doshi Gurukul Primary School
  • Smt. M. D. Bhatia English Medium High School
  • Pratapsingh Ranchhoddas High School of Commerce (Commerce Education)
  • Chhatrapati Shivaji High School
  • Pune Vidyarthi Gruha's Vidya Bhavan

Vidyavihar - 400077

  • S.K.Somaiya Vinay Mandir
  • Fatima High School
  • R. N.Gandhi High School

Nathpai Nagar - 400077

  • Pune Vidyarthi Griha’s Vidya Bhawan School

Garodia Nagar - 400077

  • Smt. Parmeshwaridevi Govardhandas Garodia English High School

Ramabai Nagar - 400077

  • Guru Nanak English High School,

Asalpha, Ghatkopar (West) - 400 084

  • Hindi Bal Vidya Mandir

Ghatkopar (West) - 400086

  • Hindi High School
  • K.V.K. Sarvajanik High School
  • Little Star English High School
  • North Bombay Welfare Society High School
  • S. P. R. Jain Kanya Shala
  • Saraswati Vidya Mandir
  • Sarvodaya Vidyalaya
  • Smt. Samratben Tarachand Mehta English Secondary Girls School
  • Ramniranjan Jhunjhunwala College

[edit] External Links


Ghatkopar
Next station south:
Vidyavihar		 Mumbai suburban railway : Central Railway Next station north:
Vikhroli
Stop No:13 KM from starting:21 Platforms:4


These are the stations on Central line of Mumbai suburban railway
Chatrapati Shivaji Terminus | Masjid | Sandhurst Road | Byculla | Chinchpokli | Currey Road | Parel | Dadar | Matunga | Sion | Kurla | Vidyavihar | Ghatkopar | Vikhroli | Kanjurmarg | Bhandup | Nahur | Mulund | Thane
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org../../../g/h/a/Ghatkopar.html"