Gorai

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Gorai is a village in the North-western part of Mumbai, India. Gorai is accessed more usually by a ferry crossing the Manori Creek which separates Gorai from the island of Salsette or otherwise by the overland route through Mira Road.

Gorai lies on a peninsula protruding off the north-west of the Salsette island. This used to be a separate island called the Dharavi Island, with the Malad Creek & Manori Creek joining up together and connecting to the Vasai Creek through the Ghodbunder Creek. However, with the building of the railways over the Ghodbunder Creek, and with successive urbanization and reclamation, the Ghodbunder Creek is largely gone, and the Dharavi Island is now reduced to a peninsula of the Salsette Island.

Gorai is bordered by the villages of Manori and Uttan, etc., all on the former Dharavi Island. Dharavi Island is divided between the north, which falls in the District of Thane and the City of Mira Road-Bhayandar, and the south, which is included in the Mumbai Suburban District and is part of the Mumbai.

Gorai is known for its beaches and East Indian population, though in recent times the beaches have become polluted. Till the 1980s Gorai was known for its clean beaches and palm trees. However with the increase in pollution around Mumbai, the Arabian Sea is unfit for swimming although it is less polluted at Gorai than at the other beaches in Mumbai.

Gorai has a large East Indian population. East Indians are Roman Catholic who were proselytised by the Portuguese when they arrived here in the 1500s. Gorai has three churches. The oldest one, Reis Magos or the Three Magi, on the banks of the Vairalla Tank in the village of Culvem located on the north border of Gorai, was built by the Franciscan missionaries between 1595 & 1602 [Meersman, 1971, p. 204]. The newer parish church, also named after the Three Magi, was built in 1810 [Hull, Vol. I, p. 10], and is located about three-quarters of a mile to the south of the ruined, original parish church. The third is the Infant Jesus Chapel built near the ruins of the old church.

Gorai has a large and controversial garbage dumping ground. The Essel World amusement park has been set up in part of Gorai, by expropriating lands from the East Indians without a fair compensation and in the teeth of their protests. Gorai is also the site for an 'Special Economic Zone' proposed by Esselworld that would take over all these villages, indeed, nearly the entire Dharavi Island.

Gorai still enjoys its calm, laid back charm quite in contrast to the fast paced life of the city just on the other banks of the creek. Bullock carts are still in use here and the area suffers from a water shortage.