Charkop
Coordinates: 19°12′58″N 72°49′50″E / 19.216182°N 72.830575°E
Charkop is a locality in the suburb of Kandivali (West), North Mumbai. It was originally intended as a housing project by MHADA, but now covers residential areas and businesses.
History
Charkop's original name is 'Char Khop' meaning a place of 4 huts or a small village with four houses. Koli's or the fishermen are considered to the original settlers of Charkop. Charkop was originally a marshy land, drained by the MHADA to provide low-cost housing to people. The project was originally intended to provide society-based plots around 250 square feet (23 m2) to every owner. This ownership was established by having a lottery and allotting lottery numbers. The next step was to provide all necessary civil amenities, which MHADA has provided to full effect. The late 1990s and beyond has brought a drastic change in people's mindsets towards Charkop. In latter years, has begun to gradually free land for bungalows and buildings. The climate and ecology was another conscious consideration towards making this choice. Towards the year 2000, Charkop had established itself as a truly cosmopolitan in close proximity to both Kandivali and Borivali railway stations.
Demographics
Original on habitats of Charkop are the people belonging to fisher men's community known as koli. Charkop is predominantly Hindu, but there are also tiny sprinklings of Christians, Sikhs and Parsees and other communities such as Buddhists,Muslims live together in clusters, in the cosmopolitan area of Ganesh Nagar, which borders Malad. Most residents can be classified as lower middle-class or middle class. Professions are mainly of the service type and businesses are run in the Ganesh Nagar(Ganesh Chowk) area and the Charkop Industrial Estate. The majority of populace is Maharashtrian, followed by Gujarati people and then others.
Landmarks
MTNL Telephone Exchange (Sector 8)
New Charkop Police Station (Sector 2)
Turzon Point
Apna Bazar (Sector 5)
Sunrays Mall (Charkop Market)
Lalit Bakery (Sector 1)
Noble Chemists 24x7 (Charkop Market)
Sunrays Mall (Charkop Market)
Ekveera Vidyalaya (Sector 1)
Mother Teresa High School (Sector 1)
Indian Education Society School (Sector 2)
Bhagwati Restaurant (Charkop Market)
Charkop Bus Depot (Sector 4)
Haryana Bhawan (Sector 6)
Tulsi Vihar Restaurant(Sector 1)
Dena Bank Sector-1
HDFC Bank
SBI Bank
Union Bank
Shree Balaji Temple (Sector 7
)[1]
Sahyadri Nagar
sukanta hotel
Oxford Public School
Ambe Mata Mandir
Dominos (Sector-6)+
Proposed developments
Metro connecting Charkop to Mankhurd is next to follow, after Mumbai Metro One is complete. However, with the operator MMTPL and MMRDA sparring on right of way, the proposed Charkop-Mankhurd metro faces a stillborn fate. There is also a popular citizen's movement in favour of an underground metro and same views have been echoed by the current Chief Minister of Maharashtra, Prithviraj Chauhan, after inspecting the condition of Mumbai Metro One, whose overground bridges kiss residential buildings and commercial establishments.
MCGM has planned to create a bird sanctuary to preserve and exhibit the various types of birds that frequent the mangrove areas of Sector 8. However,there are no updates on this project, after this was announced in 2007-08.
Schools
St.Mary's High School Sector-2.
K B Patil International School at Charkop Sector 8
Indian Education Society High School Sector-2.
Ekvira High School Sector-1.
Mother Teresa High School Sector-1.
Oxford Public School Sector-5. .
Akshara High School, Sector-8 .
Nearest station
Kandivali Station is approx 3.5 Km away from Charkop. Borivali station is approx 4 Km away.
ST buses have started from Sector 8 to Nashik, Pune, Malvan.(Discontinued)