CBD Belapur

CBD Belapur
सी.बी.डी. बेलापूर

Belapur
बेलापूर

—  town  —
Coordinates
Country India
State Maharashtra
District(s) Thane
Nearest city Mumbai
Civic agency CIDCO
Time zone IST (UTC+05:30)

CBD Belapur (Marathi:सी.बी.डी. बेलापूर) is the third most developed node of Navi Mumbai after Vashi and Nerul. CBD Belapur has a fairly vibrant Central Business District that is moving some of the economy out of congested central Mumbai into the hinterland. Belapur is also one of the largest assembly constituencies from this region. CBD Belapur has been growing since the 1990s, and is now home to colleges as well as a number of technology businesses.

CBD Belapur is an acronym of Central Business District, Belapur. It was designed and developed in order to promote businesses. The Reserve Bank of India maintains a branch office at CBD Belapur. This area is one of the fastest developing region in Navi Mumbai in terms of new residential and commercial construction projects. CBD Belapur is well connected to Mumbai through train and BEST buses. It had Sea Link for traveling to Elephanta Caves from Sector 11.

A passenger boat service operated by Oceana Marine Services, under the authorisation of Maharashtra Maritime Board, now runs every morning between the floating jetty at Belapur and Elephanta Caves.

Contents

History

The area near Belapur was under Portuguese rule around 1560, before it was captured by the Siddis of Janjira. In those days, the town was called Belawal by the locals, and Sambayo or Shabaz by the Portuguese. In 1682, the Portuguese recaptured Shabaz, only to lose it to the Marathas in 1733, under Chimanji Appa. In 1817, the British East India Company captured the area from the Marathas.

Economy

CBD Belapur houses several economic and government administrative and private companies' offices (mostly govt. offices like banks). Konkan Bhavan building houses important state government office like Director of Town Planning, Public Works Department etc. The CGO Complex (Central government office) has offices of Chief Commissioner of central exice, Special Crime Branch, MTNL and court. Other government offices include Cotton Corporation of India Ltd and headquarters of Konkan Railway.

The Reserve Bank of India, State Bank of India. SBI has its main servers here, Punjab National Bank, Industrial Development Bank of India Limited and other nationalised banks have their presence here. SBI and PNB have their main server at their respective branches.

CBD Belapur is home to some of the country's most prominent call centres like ChoiceConnex, Wipro BPO and few others like Kaizen, SilkRoot etc. ChoiceConnex has notable mention as it specialises in Out-bound Sales for US,Australia and UAE and has more recently started Domestic Operations as well.It has well-developed markets for local population in sectors 3,4 & 6.It has M.G.M.Hospital which takes care of local population's medical needs.It has a number of restaurants & recreational grounds such as Sunil Gavaskar Maidan. International Technology Centre at the CBD Belapur railway station complex was built by CIDCO as an Infotec hub.

Transport

CBD Belapur is easily accessible from all parts of Navi Mumbai and Mumbai by road, rail and water transport facilities. CBD Belapur railway station lies on the Harbour Line and on the Sion Panvel Highway. Palm Beach road connects CBD Belapur directly with Vashi. Harbour Line Railway service is up to Panvel and have been extended up to Karjat by a new line. The newly opened Thane-Vashi.Nerul rail network, links Thane city with Navi Mumbai, including CBD Belapur.

BEST buses ply between CBD Belapur and Mumbai. [BEST bus numbers for Belapur CBD are 505Ltd & AS505 (AC). 504Ltd and C55 (to Kharghar). 503Ltd, AS-503 & C52 (to Kalamboli).] Navi Mumbai Municipal Transport buses connect CBD Belapur to other nodes of Navi Mumbai and also to Thane and Dombivali. Kalyan Dombivali Municipal Transport ply between CBD Belapur and Kalyan. State Transport (ST) buses and other| luxury buses have a halt here. State Transport buses also ply between CBD Belapur Railway station and Panvel and Uran.

Auto rickshaw is the primary mode of transport with in the node owing the small area occupied by the node. The minimum auto fare is Rs. 14.

There exists a provision for a helipad and helicopter service making Belapur Station Complex accessible by air too. A hovercraft was introduced in mid 1990s between Belapur and Gateway of India but was later discontinued because of poor response, the main reason being the high fare.

Belapur Creek

This creek in the past has been a major site for sand mining, which after a long public and environmentalists' outcry stopped. But all is not well with this creek.CIDCO has allegedly allotted place for loading and unloading of sand for limited use but it is going on in uncontrolled way even being in the knowledge of all public departments whose officials are visiting the site and trying to find ways to stay away to pretend inaction. this is a major safety hazard and causing degradation of environment for residents staying in the vicinity.resident are raising their voice now and then but no body seems concerned to address the problem for improving the surroundings.

This creek has a beautiful lining of mangroves on both banks which is now under threat for the sand barons and land mafia who use patches (created by destroying mangroves and landfilling) along the creek to bring sand from other dredging sites (as far as Mahad) and unload and re-distribute to the Mumbai city. Also, now lot of activities such as vessels repair etc. is carried out on the land which is carved out of mangroves. Any activities within 50 meters of a mangrove is illegal, but the authorities remain silent; nature dies.

There are new patches being created by heavy machinery even today. The patches are growing in size by the day.

Belapur Fort

After they wrested control of the area from the Portuguese in 1733, the Marathas, led by Chimanji Appa, captured the fort. In 1817, when it was captured by Captain Charles Gray of the British East India Company, the fort was partially destroyed under the British policy of razing any Maratha stronghold in the area. CIDCO plans to restore the structure after a protest from residents of Belapur[1]

Law and order

The office of Police Commissioner Of Navi Mumbai is at CBD Belapur. A police station is also at sector 6.

Educational institutions

Other business districts of Mumbai

References

GeoLinks