Andheri

Andheri ( _mr. अंधेरी) is a suburb of Mumbai city. It is also a railway station on the Mumbai Suburban Railway, Western line. It is the fifth suburb among the Western suburbs. Like many other suburbs and areas of Mumbai, Andheri too is divided into an East and a West section, separated by the railway line.

History

The oldest settlements in and around Andheri were those of the East Indians, the natives whose villages survive in Amboli, Marol (See St. John the Baptist Church), Chakala, Gundowli, Sahar, Saki Naka, etc.

Another concentration of the native East Indians was located on the former islet of Versova, also known as Vasave.

In the early 1900s, as urbanization spread from Bombay northwards, Marathi, Gujarati and other settlers began to colonize the area.

The English actively encouraged this in order to take off population pressure from the congested city and to increase revenue inflows; however, as a result, the native East Indians came to be swamped, marginalized and their lands were usually expropriated without compensation, even as their access to the sea for fishing was cut, thus destroying their two means of livelihood: agriculture & fishing.

In the 1950s the English built the Versova Causeway (the Versova Road) between Andheri on Sashti Island and the islet of Versova. The area on both sides of this causeway were rapidly filled in to develop areas now known as Dhake Colony, D.N. Nagar, Four Bungalows, Seven Bungalows, etc.

One of the earliest colonies is the Dhake Colony on Versova Road, West Andheri. The five buildings of Dhake Colony were built around 1950, and they served as a landmark until recently. The area is now known as D.N. Nagar.

Another of these early settlements is Bhardawadi. This lane forms a vital link with S.V. Road for the residents of Versova Road. It has been inhabited for the last ninety years. In the past, there were bungalows on this road; these gave way to apartment buildings, although there are still a few old bungalows, which is rare in Mumbai. This lane bustles with the sound of traffic which passes through it to reach S.V. Road.

The popular Ganesha temple, Shree Vanchasiddhi Vinayak Ganesh Mandir, created in 1926, also contributed to the settlement of Andheri.

Starting from 1935 up to early 1980s Andheri East boated of many Film Studios, namely Prakash Studio, Nataraj Studio, Modern Studio, M&T Studio and Mohan Studio. All these studios were situated from Telli Gully signal junction up to Chakala Junction on Andheri- Kurla Road.All the big names of Bollywood of that era had their offices in it. Prakash Studio made way for Vishal Housing comples. Modern studio had to close down in mid 1960 as the Western Express Highway was constructed right through it.M&T studio was gutted in a fire in early 1960. In its place came German Remedies(pharmaceutical company).Mohan Studio too had to make way for Mota Nagar and Padam Nagar.Small hotels run by Sindhis who migrated from Pakistan and Udipi Restaurants run by entrepreneurs from Mudradi Village in Udipi (Karnataka) catered to these Studios day and night.

Before 1945, Andheri was administered by a Collector as the "Suburban District"; in that year, the former Suburban District was absorbed by Mumbai city as Greater Bombay. However, the Suburban District was once again revived in about 2000 as the Mumbai Suburban District.

Current

Andheri today has a population exceeding four million, and as per record is by far the most populous suburb of Mumbai.

Contemporary West Andheri is largely a residential area, whereas East Andheri is has a mixture of commercial and residential areas, including MIDC-SEEPZ (Santacruz Electronic and Export Promotion Zone), Saki Naka (an industrial area), etc.

The Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport, Mumbai's International Airport is in Andheri East. Many Call Centers and BPOs are located in Chakala area of Andheri.

The World Bank has many plans for the development of the largely industrial Andheri East. Work on the project of connecting Versova to Ghatkopar (a central suburb) by an elevated Metro railway line has begun by expanding the existing roads so that spaces can be created for the railway's pillars, etc. After the Metro becomes operational in about 2011, travel time will be reduced from the present 1 hour 45 minutes to about 20 minutes.

Andheri East also has pockets of attractive residential areas, with quiet, tree-lined streets, easy connectivity to the Western Express Highway, and without the congestion and perpetual traffic jams that afflict most residential areas in suburban Mumbai.

Important places

*In Andheri East, there are ancient caves, named after the Goddess Maha Kali called Mahakali Caves. They are now in ruins but recently (through the efforts of a lot of well-meaning journalists, citizens and NGOs) they have caught the attention of the government and the BMC, which is working to restore them.
*The Vanchasiddhi temple of Lord Ganesh has the second highest number of devotees everyday after the Siddhivinayak temple in Dadar. This is in Andheri east near the station
*SEEPZ (Santacruz Electronic and Export Promotion Zone) is a very important SEZ (Special Economic Zone) in Mumbai. SEEPZ is located in MIDC (Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation). MIDC also hosts various small and medium scale industries.
*Vijay Nagar, on Marol Maroshi Road is an important landmark in Andheri (East). It is a colony populated mostly by employees of Larsen and Toubro Ltd. (L&T); many of them have now retired from service. Although it is not formally associated with L&T, it is called by many as L&T colony, because the registered housing society is called Larsen and Toubro Employees Co-op Housing Society (LTECHS). The buildings in the society are named with a prefix of LT (LT1, LT2 and so on till LT31). The Vijay Nagar Colony was inaugurated by Mr. Barrister Rajni Patel, who is the grandfather of popular Bollywood actress Amisha Patel. The colony was almost completely occupied in 1977. Major bus routes through Vijay Nagar Society are 186(Andheri Station - Filter Pada), 434(Andheri Station - Baman Daya Pada via MIDC), 398(Borivli or Kandivli to Mulund Station or Maharana Pratap Chowk), 341(Dindoshi to Rani Laxmibai Chowk, Sion) and 326(ShivShahi Prakalp, Goregaon to Kurla Station). VijayNagar is a popular destination for its annual Ganesh festivals and Govinda Matki-Fod festivals which are celebrated with pomp and gaiety. A new flyover connects Vijaynagar to SEEPZ. Vijaynagar is the nearest residential society besides SEEPZ. Hence it is the most sought after residence for many software professionals working in SEEPZ and MIDC area, due to its walkable distance to SEEPZ. Vijay Nagar is known for its solid construction of buildings. The walls and beams are difficult to penetrate through using normal drills due to the very high quality of cement used during construction. Very few societies in Mumbai have been known to have such a high quality of construction today. Originally the two VijayNagars in Andheri East, were part of one society; they were disassociated somewhere in the 70s. "Marol VijayNagar" and "Andheri VijayNagar" are how the two are recognised today.
*Picnic Spot is a major tourist attraction among Andheri Locals. It's the next stop towards Goregaon from Vijay Nagar Society. This place is frequented by joggers from Vijaynagar, Marol and other societies in this area, and hence of significant importance to the residents of this area. The Aarey road, with its greenery is the last green spot in Mumbai and very vulnerable to builder lobby and politicians wanting to chop off and build high rises. Residents of Andheri and Mumbai as a whole are keeping their fingers crossed against the area falling prey to the greed of notorious builders and politicians.
*The Maphkan Nagar Municipal School hosts LACC (AGNI) meetings every Saturday at 9.30 A.M. which is a forum where woes of residents of Marol Maroshi Road Area is heard by BMC officials. It is co-ordinated by volunteers of AGNI. The volunteers are Mr. James John, Mrs. Rosario, Mr. Sujit Menon.
*Bhawani Nagar, on Marol Maroshi Road, is another residential landmark in Andheri (East). This colony contains 18 clusters of buildings, called plots. The earliest plot in this colony was developed in 1977 by Deepak Builders.
*The Marol Maroshi Bus Depot is a major bus terminus.
* Vijay Nagar & Chandrashekhar Society on Swami Nityanand Marg (Sahar Road) is an important place in terms of cultural and educational activities. It is also home to the Paranjape Vidyalaya; a branch of the famous Parle Tilak Sanstha.
* Andheri's East and West areas house some of the biggest and well know mall's and software companies in the whole of Mumbai. The biggest mall of Andheri, Infinity mall, is housed on of India's biggest FM stations (Big FM 92.7MHz) and India's largest gaming portal Zapak, both of which are Reliance undertakings.
* Gilbert Hill is a 200 foot (61 m) monolith column of black basalt rock in Andheri, in Mumbai, India. The rock has a sheer vertical face and was created when molten lava was squeezed out of the earth's clefts during the Mesozoic Era about 65 million years ago. During that era, molten lava had spread around most of the Indian states of Maharashtra, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh, covering an area of 50,000 square kilometres (19,305 sq mi). The volcanic eruptions were also responsible for the destruction of plant and animal life during that era. According to experts, this rare geological phenomenon was the remnants of a ridge and had clusters of vertical columns in nearby Jogeshwari which were quarried off two decades ago. These vertical columns are similar to the Devils Tower National Monument in Wyoming, and the Devils Postpile National Monument in eastern California, USA. Atop the rock column, two Hindu temples, the Gaodevi and Durgamata temples, set in a small garden, are accessed by a steep staircase carved into the rock. The hill offers a panoramic view of the city of Mumbai. To get there via road, turn left at Kasimali Sakur Chowk on Swami Vivekanand Road, just before Andheri railway station and ask for directions to the temple atop Gilbert Hill which is just a minute's drive away.
* Marol Fire Brigade is the only fire brigade in Andheri (East). This is situated at the main junction of Marol Naka.
*The Andheri Sports Complex, Veera Desai Road, Andheri West, is a sports facility which has also played host to a number of Bollywood and other entertainment functions. It is the site of Live Earth India 2008, December 7, 2008.

Andheri Hospitals

East:
* Mukund Hospital
* Holy Spirit hospitalWest
* Cooper Hospital
* Criticare
* Lokhandwala

Andheri colleges

East
* Tolani College
* Shri Chinai College
* MVLU

West
* Oriental College of Commerce
* Bhavans College
* Sardar Patel College of Engineering
* Cosmopolitan Education Society's S.C.D.Barfiwala College of Science.
* Shri Chaganlal Valia College of Commerce and Arts.
* MOD-TECH College of Engineering
* Seed InfoTech Institute
* Rajrani Malhotra Junior College, Lokhandwala Complex
* S P Jain Institute of Management and Research

chools in Andheri

* Abdullah Qureshi High School - Andheri (West)
* St. Lawrence High School - Andheri East (Marol),
* A.H.Wadia Bhavans High school - Andheri (West),
* St. Blaises High School - Andheri (West)
* Marble Arch School - Andheri (West)
* Bombay Cambridge High School - Andheri (West)
* Hansraj Morarji Public School & Junior College - Andheri (West)
* Rajhans Vidyalaya CBSE - Andheri (West) [http://www.rajhansvidyalaya.org/aboutus.htm]
* Baikabibai Balvatika - Andheri (West)
* Versova Welfare School - Andheri (West)
* Saint Dominic Savio High School - Andheri (East)
* Prime Academy [http://www.primeacademy.net.in/contact.htm]
* Canossa High School - Andheri (East)
* Holy family High School - Andheri (East)
* Divine Child High School - Andheri (East)
* Our Lady Of Health High School - Andheri East {Sahar}
* Saint Xaviers High School - Andheri (East)
* S C D Barfiwala High School - Andheri (West)
* Gyan Kendra School - Andheri (West)
* City International School - Andheri (West)
* Jankidevi Public School IGCSE, IB - Andheri (West) [http://www.jankidevipublicschool-m.com/]
* Ashok Academy CBSE School - Andheri (West)
* Raigad Military School CBSE - Andheri (West) [http://www.raigadmilitaryschool.org/mumbaiindex.htm]
* IIT Mumbai CBSE School - Andheri (East) IIT Campus School [http://homepages.iitb.ac.in/~csiitp/]
* Swami Muktananda High School - Andheri (West)
* Dawood Baugh Andheri Municipal School - Andheri (West)
* Lady Ratanbai & Sir Mathuradas Vissanji Academy, Andheri (East)
* St. Anthony's High School - Andheri (East) [Saki Naka]
* Seth Madhavdas Amarshi High School ICSE - Andheri (West)
* Shriram Welfare Society's High School (SRWS) - Andheri (West)
* Marol Education Academy's High School, Marol Maroshi Road [http://marolacademy.net MEA high School]
* St. John the Evangelists High School (Andheri East)
* St. Lawrence High School (Andheri East)
*IIT Campus School CBSE (Andheri East) [http://homepages.iitb.ac.in/~csiitp/index.html]
* M.K. Urdu High School & Junior College, Marol Maroshi Road - Andheri (East)
* Anjum-Noorul-Islam Urdu High School, Saki Naka - Andheri (East)
* Marol Municiple School - Andheri (East)
* Nagardas Dharsi Bhuta High School - Andheri (East)
* Our Lady Of Good Health High School - Andheri (East)

Trivia

* Madhuri Dixit studied in Divine child high school.fact|date=November 2007
* The popular serial "Nukkad" was entirely shot at Natraj Studios.

Nagardas Vasanji Bhuta High School, Andheri [East]
* Deepti panshlikar Andheri [east]
* Deepak Jayantilal Parikh (N.D.Bhuta High School,Andheri(East)

External links

* [http://www.projectsmonitor.com/detailnews.asp?newsid=9786] Projects Monitor
* [http://mumbai.maps.googlepages.com A customized Google Map showing High Resolution Satellite Images of Andheri]

ee also

*Salsette-Trombay Railway
*Western Railway
*Central Railway (Harbour Line)
*Andheri station