Wadala (also spelled Vadala, formerly spelt Wuddala, �əɖaːɭa is a locality in

Mumbai Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the secon ...

. Wadala Road is a station on the

Harbour Line The Harbour line is a branch line of the Mumbai Suburban Railway operated by Central Railway. It was named so because it catered to the eastern neighbourhoods along the city's natural harbour. Its termini are Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Termin ...

of Mumbai's

railway Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a p ...

network.

Overview

Wadala has several schools and some renowned institutions like Veermata Jijabai Technological Institute (VJTI),

Institute of Chemical Technology Institute of Chemical Technology (ICT) is a state-funded deemed university in Mumbai, India. The institute also has campuses at Bhubaneswar, Odisha and Jalna, Marathwada. It is focused on training and research in the fields of chemical engin ...

(erstwhile UDCT)),

Vidyalankar Institute of Technology Vidyalankara Institute of Technology (VIT) is an engineering college affiliated to University of Mumbai and approved by the All India Council For Technical Education (AICTE) and , India. It was accredited by National Assessment and Accreditatio ...

(VIT),

South Indians' Welfare Society College The South Indians' Welfare Society (SIWS) was founded in 1934 with an objective to provide educational facilities to the local population. Initially, the society started a primary school at Shivaji Park, Dadar in 1934 and another at Matunga in ...

(SIWS), St.Joseph's High School, and Auxilium Convent High School located near one another. SNDT Women's University, Dr. Ambedkar Commerce & Law College also has a campus in Wadala West. The local college of Wadala is SIWS near the Wadala station. The largest bus depot in Mumbai,

BEST Best or The Best may refer to: People * Best (surname), people with the surname Best * Best (footballer, born 1968), retired Portuguese footballer Companies and organizations * Best & Co., an 1879–1971 clothing chain * Best Lock Corporation ...

's Wadala depot, is located here. The Ackworth Leprosy Hospital was established during British rule, and part of its complex is now given to an

AIDS Human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) is a spectrum of conditions caused by infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), a retrovirus. Following initial infection an individual ma ...

awareness organisation as well. The world's first

methane Methane ( , ) is a chemical compound with the chemical formula (one carbon atom bonded to four hydrogen atoms). It is a group-14 hydride, the simplest alkane, and the main constituent of natural gas. The relative abundance of methane ...

generation plant was set up in the Ackworth hospital complex.

History

Prehistoric

Wadala village lay on one of the Seven Islands of Bombay that were joined to form the modern day Mumbai. The island was previously called by different names: Parel, Matunga, Dharavi or Sion.

19th century

The Dadar-Matunga-Wadala-Sion scheme of 1899-1900 was the first planned suburban scheme in Bombay. The ''Bombay City Improvement Trust'' which was set after a bill was passed in the

British parliament The Parliament of the United Kingdom is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of Westminster, London. It alone possesses legislative suprem ...

, formulated this plan in order to relieve congestion in the centre of the town, following the

plague Plague or The Plague may refer to: Agriculture, fauna, and medicine *Plague (disease), a disease caused by ''Yersinia pestis'' * An epidemic of infectious disease (medical or agricultural) * A pandemic caused by such a disease * A swarm of pes ...

epidemics of the 1890s. According to the survey plan, 85,000 people were to be accommodated in the developments in Wadala. The plans regulated constructions with emphasis on proper

sanitation Sanitation refers to public health conditions related to clean drinking water and treatment and disposal of human excreta and sewage. Preventing human contact with feces is part of sanitation, as is hand washing with soap. Sanitation syste ...

. Buildings were to be three storeys high, and were to have open spaces between them. The land-use was planned to be a mix of residential, commercial and institutional constructions. Parks and gardens were planned, and the streets were well laid out. of land was procured and leased to the Government for selling. For the first time housing cooperatives were formed to take advantage of newly developed land. The Parsi (

Zoroastrian Zoroastrianism is an Iranian religion and one of the world's oldest organized faiths, based on the teachings of the Iranian-speaking prophet Zoroaster. It has a dualistic cosmology of good and evil within the framework of a monotheisti ...

) and

Hindu Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...

colonies in

Dadar Dadar (Help:IPA/Marathi, ̪aːd̪əɾ is a densely populated residential and shopping neighbourhood in Mumbai. It is also a prominent railway and bus service hub with local and national connectivity. Dadar holds the distinction of being Mum ...

-Wadala were developed in this way.

20th century

In 1915 the Port Trust Railway opened the Wadala Ballard Pier railway line. Petrol and kerosene installations also came up in Wadala. The Veermata Jijabai Technological Institute (formerly the Victoria Jubilee Technological Institute) moved to its present campus at Wadala in 1923. The Institute of Chemical Technology (formerly the University Department of Chemical Technology) was established in Wadala in 1934. During the

Civil Disobedience Movement The Salt March, also known as the Salt Satyagraha, Dandi March and the Dandi Satyagraha, was an act of nonviolent civil disobedience in colonial India led by Mahatma Gandhi. The twenty-four day march lasted from 12 March to 6 April 1930 as a ...

, the Wadala Salt Works was raided by around 1,500 volunteers of the

Congress party The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party but often simply the Congress, is a political party in India with widespread roots. Founded in 1885, it was the first modern nationalist movement to emerge in the British Em ...

on 1 June 1930. The incident occurred after an appeal was made in the ''Congress Bulletin'' of 31 May, to challenge the 'British anarchy'. The British government in India reacted quickly and 11 women were detained.

Geography

Wadala was once considered a central suburb of the city of Mumbai, but it is now well within the city limits. The area is bordered by

on the West,

Matunga Matunga (Marathi pronunciation: Help:IPA/Marathi, aːʈuŋɡaː is a locality in the heart of Mumbai City towards downtown Mumbai. It is serviced by the Matunga Road station on the Western line, Matunga railway station, Matunga station on th ...

on the Northwest, and

Sewri Sewri (IAST: ''Śivdī,'' �iʋɖiː is a locality along the eastern edge of South Mumbai, in Maharashtra, India. It is also the name of a railway station on the Central Railway Harbour Line. Sewri (pronounced as Shivdi / शिवडी) was ...

on the South. The western areas of Wadala are covered by salt pans, which are on the shores of the Thane creek. On the Eastern border of Wadala,

MMRDA Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) is a body of the Government of Maharashtra that is responsible for preparation oRegional Plan for MMRand the infrastructure development of the Mumbai Metropolitan Region. The MMRDA was se ...

has planned to construct a truck terminus, spread over . Mumbai will have for the first time a centralized facility for the transport of goods by road.

Landmarks and architecture

Wadala has a large number of old temples, university campuses and is also home to a former world's largest

IMAX IMAX is a proprietary system of high-resolution cameras, film formats, film projectors, and theaters known for having very large screens with a tall aspect ratio (approximately either 1.43:1 or 1.90:1) and steep stadium seating. Graeme ...

dome theater. It is also home to the Vidyalankar Educational Campus, whose building design has won an international award viz. Designshare's Honour award. The BEST Transport Museum is also located at Wadala's Anik bus depot. It features amateur mini models of BEST buses and the ancient trams. Wadala is also known for churches, temples and

darga Darga (Hebrew: ) is a cantillation mark commonly found in the Torah, Haftarah, and other books. The symbol for the darga resembles a backwards Z. The darga is usually followed by a Tevir. It is most often found in places where a Tevir clause ha ...

s. Near the station is the 400-year-old

Vitthal Vithoba, also known as Vi(t)thal(a) and Panduranga, is a Hindu deity predominantly worshipped in the Indian state of Maharashtra and Karnataka. He is generally considered as a manifestation of the god Vishnu, or his avatar Krishna. Vithoba is ...

Temple built by Sant

Tukaram Sant Tukaram Maharaj (Marathi pronunciation: ̪ukaːɾam was a 17th-century Marathi poet, Hindu ''sant'' (saint), popularly known as Tuka, Tukobaraya, Tukoba in Maharashtra. He was a Sant of Varkari sampradaya (Marathi-Vaishnav tradition) - ...

who brought the idol from

Pandharpur Pandharpur (Pronunciation: əɳɖʱəɾpuːɾ is a well known pilgrimage town, on the banks of Candrabhagā River, near Solapur city in Solapur District, Maharashtra, India. Its administrative area is one of eleven tehsils in the District ...

, home of the original temple of Lord Vithal. The temple is known as ''Prati Pandharpur'' (Pandharpur temple's replica). One of the many one-day festivals in Mumbai has been held in this temple to devote Lord Vitthal on ''Ashadhi Ekadashi'' (According to Hindu Calendar) in June/July. Near this temple is the 15th-century

Lord Ram Rama (; ), Ram, Raman or Ramar, also known as Ramachandra (; , ), is a major deity in Hinduism. He is the seventh and one of the most popular ''avatars'' of Vishnu. In Rama-centric traditions of Hinduism, he is considered the Supreme Bein ...

temple and the

Hanuman Hanuman (; sa, हनुमान, ), also called Anjaneya (), is a Hindu god and a divine '' vanara'' companion of the god Rama. Hanuman is one of the central characters of the Hindu epic ''Ramayana''. He is an ardent devotee of Rama and on ...

temple on the opposite side of the road. The Ram Temple also houses a marriage hall. Located on David S. Baretto Road is a Krishna Temple which also houses an orphanage. Wadala also has a Balaji Temple, that celebrates the Jatra festival each year in the month of January. Apart from these, there is also a Shiv Temple, a Devi Mandir and a small Gurudwara near the station. The St. Joseph Church (Our Lady of Dolours Church) is situated on the D. S. Barretto Road, between Five Gardens and Wadala station. This also houses the St. Joseph's High School. Opposite is the Don Bosco Shelter which is a centre for the rehabilitation and education of underprivileged children. The Barkat Ali Dargah is located on a hill where the bridge connecting Wadala East to Wadala West ends. It is another of Wadala's landmarks. The St. Dominic Savio Church is located in Wadala East. This church, built in 1981, was the first of Mumbai churches to be situated on the first floor. Wadala (East) houses two cemeteries, the Baháʼí Cemetery and the Chinese Cemetery. These cemeteries were laid out in Wadala a long time ago, for the same reason that the Ackworth Leprosy Home was built at Wadala viz. Wadala was considered a distant suburb of the city. A number of housing colonies exist in Wadala. Some of them are Bhakti Park, Dosti Acres, Eucress and Lloyd's Estate. Wadala East also has the BPT (now MbPT housing colony), a large sprawling colony for the port workers complete with a hospital. Near Antop Hill, the

government of India The Government of India ( ISO: ; often abbreviated as GoI), known as the Union Government or Central Government but often simply as the Centre, is the national government of the Republic of India, a federal democracy located in South Asia, ...

established the

Intellectual Property Intellectual property (IP) is a category of property that includes intangible creations of the human intellect. There are many types of intellectual property, and some countries recognize more than others. The best-known types are patents, co ...

Office responsible for Controlling General of

Patents A patent is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the legal right to exclude others from making, using, or selling an invention for a limited period of time in exchange for publishing an enabling disclosure of the invention."A ...

, Designs and

Trademarks A trademark (also written trade mark or trade-mark) is a type of intellectual property consisting of a recognizable sign, design, or expression that identifies products or services from a particular source and distinguishes them from othe ...

in India. About 2 kilometers from Wadala Station East, past the truck terminus, is Flamingo Bay. From 1994,

lesser flamingo The lesser flamingo (''Phoeniconaias minor'') is a species of flamingo occurring in sub-Saharan Africa and western India. Birds are occasionally reported from further north, but these are generally considered vagrants. Characteristics The lesser ...

s have been wintering here. From December to March, thousands of flamingos descend on the mudflats, a mile from the shore, to feed on the nutrient-rich marshes. The proposed Nhava Sheva bridge that will connect the island to the mainland has faced criticism from environmentalists, who allege that the habitat of these birds would be destroyed if the project is approved and completed. Over the years,

slum A slum is a highly populated urban residential area consisting of densely packed housing units of weak build quality and often associated with poverty. The infrastructure in slums is often deteriorated or incomplete, and they are primarily ...

development had started in Wadala adjacent to the railway tracks and a large colony began to form. In 2006, the

state government A state government is the government that controls a subdivision of a country in a federal form of government, which shares political power with the federal or national government. A state government may have some level of political autonom ...

took action and cleared the area of slums.

Utilities

Wadala receives electricity supplied by the

undertaking. Wadala experiences very few electricity cuts in a year, if at all. There are a number of schools, colleges and hospitals. There are police stations in both Wadala West and East. The ''Voice of Wadala'' is the neighbourhood newsletter, in print since 1988. One of the concerns for residents of Wadala is that it does not have any malls or supermarkets. For shopping, one has to use local shops, or travel to

List of schools

* A. E. S. High School * Amulakh Amichand School * Auxilium Convent High School * Bansidhar Agarwal School * C. G. E. E. S. High School * Dadar Parsee Youths Assembly High School * Dnyaneshwar Vidyalaya * Don Bosco High School * J. B. Vachha High School * Knowledge center (Mumbai School) * Korba Mithagar Municipal School * N. K. E. S. High School * Nadkarni Park Municipal School * Nirmal Vidyalaya School, Ganesh Nagar * S. I. W. S. School * Sitaram Prakash High School * St. Joseph's High School

List of colleges

* A. E. S. Junior College of Science & Commerce * Dr. Ambedkar college of Commerce & Economics * Kala Saadhna (Classical Dance Music Academy) * Mumbai College of science and commerce * Mumbai Institute of Management and Research * S. I. W. S. School College *

(formerly UDCT) * Vidyalankar Campus (Engineering (UG & PG), Science and Management Colleges) * Veermata Jijabai Technological Institute (V.J.T.I)

List of hospitals

* Ackworth Leprosy Hospital * Aditya Eye hospital * MbPT Hospital * Mumbai Port Trust Hospital * Shobha Maternity Hospital * Rotunda Nursing Home

Gallery

File:Vitthal Mandir, Wadala.jpg, Vithhal Mandir, Wadala West File:Our Lady of Dolours Church, Wadala.jpg, Our Lady of Dolours Church, Wadala West File:Rocket Garden, Wadala.jpg, Rocket Garden, Wadala West File:Don Bosco Church, Wadala.jpg, Don Bosco Church, Wadala West File:Patent Office Wadala.jpg, Indian Patent Office, Wadala East File:UDCT Wadala.jpg, UDCT, Wadala West File:Five Garden Wadala.jpg, Five Garden Area, Wadala West File:Ram Mandir Wadala.jpg, Ram Mandir, Wadala West File:Wadala Bridge.JPG, Wadala Bridge (Nana Fadnavis Flyover) File:Barkat Ali Dargah Wadala.jpg, Barkat Ali Dargah, Wadala East File:Nageshwar Mandir Wadala.jpg, Nageshwar Mandir, Wadala East File:Vidyalankar Wadala.jpg, Vidyalankar Educational Campus, Wadala East File:Hanuman Mandir - Wadala East.jpg, Hanuman Mandir, Wadala East File:Dosti Acres.jpg, Dosti Acres, Wadala East File:Shaikh Mistry Dargah.jpg, Shaikh Mistry Dargah, Wadala East File:MBPT Railway Yard.jpg, Mumbai Port Trust Railway Yard File:Bhakti Park Wadala.jpg, Bhakti Park, Wadala East File:Mangrove Garden Wadala.JPG, Mangrove Garden, Wadala East File:Salt Pan Wadala.jpg, Salt Pan, Wadala East

References

{{reflist

External links

Voluntary Citizen Group of Wadala
Neighbourhoods in Mumbai Suburbs of Mumbai