Kurla

Kurla is a major suburb of Mumbai. It is also the name of one the busiest railway stations on the Mumbai suburban railway on the central and harbour railway lines of Mumbai. Lokmanya Tilak Terminus (LTT) (near Kurla)is a train terminus for some out-station passenger/express trains

History

The name of Kurla has originated from a name of a small fish "Kurli". This suburb is built on a seawater where earlier these small fishes were foundFact|date=April 2007.In actual terms, suburb Kurla is called to be as coorla.Kurla in Salsette, a station on the Peninsula railway ten miles north-east of Bombay, is with six other villages, Mohili, Kolikalyan, Marol, Shahar, Asalpe, and Parjapur, the property of Mr. Ardeshir Hormasji Wadia, a Parsi merchant of Bombay, who pays for them a yearly quit-rent of £358 (Rs. 3587). The villages were originally given, in 1808, to Mr. Hormasji Bamanji Wadia in exchange for a piece of land near the Apollo pier gate in Bombay. The difference between the value of the villages and of the ground in Bombay, £864 (Rs. 8640), was at first paid yearly to Government. It was redeemed and the estate conveyed in fee simple in 1840-41. Kurla has two cotton mills, one of them, the Dharamsi Punjabhai being the largest cotton spinning and weaving mill in the Presidency, with 92,094 spindles and 1280 looms and a capital of £600,000 (Rs. 60,00,000). It employs about 3550 workmen and pays in wages about £40,000 (Rs. 4,00,000) a year. The other is the Kurla Spinning and Weaving Mill with a capital of £130,000 (Rs. 13,00,000). The village has a population of 9715, about half of them mill-hands, the rest chiefly fishers, husbandmen, and salt-makers. The Christians, who number about 1500, have a church of the Holy Cross, built during Portuguese rule and rebuilt in 1848. It measures 125 feet long, forty-seven broad, and forty-five high. It is in good order and has a vicarage attached, with a vicar who has a monthly Government allowance of £1 (Rs. 10). Attached to the church is a school, with an average attendance of thirty-three boys who are taught reading, writing, arithmetic, Christian doctrine, and music. The master plays the violin in church. The owner of the village, Mr. Ardeshir Hormasji Wadia, contributes 12s. (Rs. 6) a month to the expense of the school. On a small hill, about ten minutes' walk from the church, is a cross believed to have miraculous power. The municipality, which was started in 1878, had, in 1880-81, an income of £325 (Rs.3248) from house, mill, and lime kiln taxes, representing a taxation of 8d. (5 annas 4 pies) a head. The expenditure during the same year was £213 (Rs. 2135), of which £126 (Rs. 1257) went in scavenging. The station traffic returns show an increase in passengers from 162,268 in 1872 to 336,898 in 1880, and in goods from 594 to 8973 tons.The Mithibai Hormasji Wadia Dispensary was built by Mr. Bamanji Hormasji Wadia in 1855, and endowed by him with £1200 (Rs. 12,000). It is in charge of an assistant surgeon, and, in 1880-81, had an attendance of 7367 out-patients. The salt pans cover an area of about 66 acres and yield a yearly revenue of £3418 (Rs. 34,180). There is also a considerable manufacture of shell lime. Kurla is connected with Sion on Bombay island by the Sion causeway, which bears the following inscription: ' This causeway was begun in May 1798 and was finished in January 1805, during the administration of the Honourable Jonathan Duncan Esquire. It cost £5037 (Rs. 50,374). It was doubled in width, and other improvements added, in 1826, under the government of the Honourable Mountstuart Elphinstone, at a further cost of £4000 (Rs. 40,000). The causeway was originally constructed under the superintendence of Captain William Brooks of the Engineers, and the additions and improvements made in 1826 under that of Captain William Tate of the same corps.'Kurla was a place of some consequence under the Portuguese, and, after their overthrow by the Marathas (1740), became the seat of the native Vicar General of Salsette.(from Thane Gazzeteer)

In 1918, the Bombay city limits were expanded out to Kurla. A new railway line connecting Kurla to Chembur was constructed and then extended to Mankhurd. A spate of building activity took place in the 1920s. Kurla railway station has railway lines connected from both the Central Railway and Harbour railway.

The Bandra-Kurla Commercial Complex added to the commercial value of Kurla.

Prominent business communities in Kurla are Marwaries, Kutchhies, Sindhies, Patels and Gujaraties. Kurla has a large number of muslim population.

Famous shops in Kurla are Panchshil Jewellers,Deepak Farsan, Readymade Centre, Nagarik Stores, Arpan Shopping Arcade,Swastik Sweets, Dugad Market

Localities

Some of the residential areas in Kurla include:
*Hilphi House (House of a Portuguese Builder)
* A.H.WADIA charity trust owned by Rich Parsi is Located on A.H.Wadia Marg.
* BMC colony located near NEW MILL ROAD & H.P.KELUSKAR MARG.
* LIG,MIG and HIG Colony at Vinobha Bhave Nagar is also famous.
* Nehru Nagar: The Government Dairy is located in this area; it has Mumbai's second biggest BEST depot
* Kamgar Nagar: A residential area with row houses (now developed as bungalows)
* Shriv Shrusti: A residential colony near the bus depot
* Chhadva Nagar: A residential colony near Bhabha Hospital
* Murli Milan Society: A residential colony near Bhabha Hospital
* ST Bus depot for state transport.
* Connected to Lokmanya Railway Terminus
* Pipe Road is most popular and crowded area in Kurla west.
* Village hall road is popular for christians residing here.
* Vinobha Bhave Nagar is surrounded by slums called "RAM BACHCHAN KA TABELA"
* Other important localities in Kurla West are CST Road, Taximen's colony, Station Road, Gol Building, Subhash Nagar, Brahminwadi,Kapadia nagar etc.
* Jai Shankar Chowk is situated on New Mill Road at Kurla West and the people are living in Jai Shankar Chowk are from Kaikadi Samaj. 90% people in Jai shankar Chowk are working in BMC and Air India.Abdulla Mainsion where Mustafa Lives.
* Bail Bazaar, Wadia Estate, Sindhi Camp (Sindhi's, Kanojia's, Malwanees Etc resides)
* This area is being affected by the SRA Schemes few are (Sandesh Nagar, Sayog Nagar, Kranti Nagar etc the area from where the MITHI NADI Pass by).
* Jarimari, Kajupada, Safed Pool Etc

Education

Kurla has one engineering college, Don Bosco Institute of Technology, and several schools. Some of the schools in Kurla are S. K. P. Walavalkar High School Marathi and English Medium Green Bombay High School, Anjuman Tabligul Islam, Swami Vivekanand High School and College, Holy Cross High School (Kurla),Gandhi Bal Mandir High School(Marathi), Karthika High School, Kedarnath Vidya Prasarini (KVP) English High School and Michael High School), Shree Gujarati Samaj Vidhyalaya , st judes high school

Football Club in Kurla

1)team playing for M.D.F.A.(mumbai district football association)

HEARTS Sports Club, Shiv-Srushti, Kurla (E)

Famous residents

* Dutta Samant, Indian politician and trade union leader
* Imran Khan, actor
* Rakesh Kolhapure, photographer