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27-604: Dahisar River is a river on Salsette island that runs through Dahisar , a suburb of Mumbai , India. It originates in the Tulsi Lake in Sanjay Gandhi National Park in the northern reaches of the city. The River flows roughly North-West for a total of 12 kilometres through the localities of the National Park, Sri Krishna Nagar, Daulatnagar, Leprosy Colony, Kandar Pada, Sanjay Nagar, and Dahisar Gaothan before meeting

54-605: A magnitude of 6. The island is mostly composed of black basalt rock. Since it is along the sea coast, it has a sandy belt on its western coast. The southern region of Old Mumbai is mostly at sea level. However, the parts which were erstwhile shallows are below sea level. Many parts of the city are hilly. There are three major lakes on the island: Powai Lake , Tulsi Lake and Vihar Lake . The latter two supply part of Mumbai's water requirements. Numerous other smaller ponds and lakes are present. The Mithi River (Mahim), Poisar River , Oshiwara River and Dahisar River originate in

81-460: A metre or two), Versova , Marve Island , Dharavi Island and Rai Murdhe, all with a knoll core and fringing wave-cut platforms and sandy beaches. These islands seem to have remained separate until as late as 1808. At the time of writing of the old Gazetteer of Thana in 1882, these islands could be reached during low tides by walking across the tidal inlets in between, except for the island of Dharavi in present-day Gorai (not to be confused with

108-536: The Mahim Causeway in 1845. These railway lines and roads encouraged wealthier merchants to build villas on Salsette. By 1901, the population of Salsette had increased to 146,993 and the area began to be referred to as Greater Bombay . Salsette is dominated by a central mass of hills surrounded by tidal flats. A number of much smaller islands lay on its western flank. These included Bandra , Khar Danda , Juhu (an old linear sand bar rising above sea level by just

135-744: The Mount St Mary's Church in Bandra, the Cross at Cross Maidan , Gloria Church (1632) in Mazagaon and the remnants of a church in Santa Cruz are the sole places of worship that have survived to the 21st century. In 1661, the seven Bombay (Mumbai) islets were ceded to Britain as part of the dowry of Catherine de Braganza to Charles II of England ; while Salsette remained in Portuguese hands. Charles II in turn, leased

162-577: The Sultan of Guzerat . In 1534, the Portuguese empire seized the islands from Sultan Bahadur Shah . Sashti became part of the northern province of Portuguese India , which was governed from Vasai (Bassein) on the north shore of Bassein Creek. It was leased to the explorer Diogo Rodrigues from 25 October, 1535 to 1548. In 1554, the islands were handed over to Garcia de Orta , a renowned physician and botanist and

189-563: The most densely populated islands in the world . It has a population of more than 20 million inhabitants living on an area of about 619 square kilometres (239 sq mi). Salsette is bounded on the north by Vasai Creek , on the northeast by the Ulhas River , on the east by Thane Creek and Mumbai Harbour , and on the south and west by the Arabian Sea . The original seven islands of Mumbai , which were merged by land reclamation during

216-640: The 15th century with the Portuguese. These original inhabitants of Salsette are the Bombay East Indian Catholics , the Aagris & Kolis . 109 Buddhist caves, including those at Kanheri, can be found on the island, and date from the end of the 2nd century. Salsette was ruled by a succession of Hindu kingdoms, the last of which were the Silharas and later the Marathas . In 1343, the islands were annexed by

243-403: The 19th and early 20th centuries to form the city of Mumbai, are now practically a southward protruding peninsula of the much larger Salsette Island. The island of Trombay that was to the southeast of Salsette is today part of Salsette as much of the intervening swamps have been reclaimed. It contains Borivali National Park , also known as Sanjay Gandhi National Park. The city of Thane is at

270-542: The Arabian sea via the Manori Creek . Its total Catchment area is 3488 hectares. The river was once so picturesque that Hindi films were shot here. Till the late 1960s, crocodiles were witnessed to be residing the river. The river is now highly polluted with the dumping of industrial effluents from workshops, and sewage from slums and stormwater drains into it. In recent times it had narrowed down, and became more shallow due to

297-675: The Bombay islets to the English East India Company in 1668 for £10 per year. The company found the deep harbour at Mumbai (Bombay) eminently apposite, and the population rose from 10,000 in 1661 to 60,000 by 1675. In 1687, the East India Company transferred their headquarters there from Surat . In 1737, the island was captured by Mahratta violence, all of the Portuguese northern province in India, except Damaon, Diu & Silvassa , as it

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324-1171: The Dahisar River into Gorai Creek. The eastern waterfront also has many small creeks. The small southern part of the eastern waterfront of Salsette forms Mumbai Harbour. North of this region lie vast amounts of protected wetlands at Sewree , home to migratory birds. The northern and northwestern part of the island and parts of Mahim River have government-protected marshlands. These swampy regions form massive, dense mangrove forests. 15th century 16th century 15th century 16th century 17th century 18th century 19th century 16th century 17th century 15th century 16th century Portuguese India 17th century Portuguese India 18th century Portuguese India 16th century 17th century 19th century Portuguese Macau 20th century Portuguese Macau 15th century [Atlantic islands] 16th century [Canada] 16th century 17th century 18th century 19th century List of islands by population Due to

351-623: The Western Express Highway, Leprosy Colony, slum pockets between Bhagwati Hospital and Rustomjee Park, and Ranchhoddas Marg. The river flood was caused by the eighth heaviest ever recorded 24-hour rainfall figure of 994 mm (39.1 inches) which lashed the city on 26 July 2005, and intermittently continued through the next day. During the deluge, about 10,000 houses and shops in Rawal Pada, Ghartan Pada and Sri Krishna Nagar were submerged causing heavy losses. The level of water in this region

378-461: The author of Colloquies on the Simples Drugs and Medical Matter of India , a seminal work on Indian Eastern medicine of its time. Nine churches were built on Salsette island by the Portuguese; Nirmal (1557), Nossa Senhora dos Remédios (1557), Sandor (1566), Agashi (1568), Nandakal (1573), Papdy (1574), Pale (1595), Manickpur (1606), and Nossa Senhora das Mercês (1606). The St Andrews Church and

405-410: The banks, and dumping of municipal solid wastes coupled with inadequate annual desilting efforts. Ingress encroachments from the banks (building, industries, and slums) as well as modification of river-course and local diversion of streams have compounded the risk of flooding. Some of the glaring encroachments are: Bridge along Dahisar River between Western Express Highway and S. V. Road, Marble Shops near

432-515: The islets of Bombay. By 1845, the seven southern islands had been connected to form South Bombay , with an area of 435 km². Railway viaducts and causeways were built in the 19th century to connect Bombay Island to the mainland via Salsette. The channels separating Mumbai from Salsette and Trombay were bridged by the Sion Causeway in 1803. Accessibility considerably increased after construction of this causeway. Mahim and Bandra were connected by

459-506: The national park and empty into the Arabian Sea. The Mithi River originates at Vihar Lake. Vasai and Thane creeks are estuarine distributaries of the Ulhas River . A number of saline or brackish creeks extend inland from the coastline. Mahim Creek separates the city from the suburbs in the west. Further north on the western coast, the Oshiwara river empties into Malad (or Marvé) Creek and

486-624: The neighbourhood of Powai in Andheri. Politically, the Mumbai City district covers the peninsula south of Mahim and Sion while most of the original island constitutes the Mumbai Suburban district . The northern portion lies within Thane district , which extends across Thane creeks onto the mainland. The word Sasashti (also shortened to Sashti ) is Maharashtri Konkani term for "sixty-six", referring to

513-518: The northeastern corner, on Thane Creek , while the western suburbs of Mumbai which stretches from Bhayandar in the northwest corner to Bandra which lies just before the Mumbai City district lies on its western side while the eastern suburbs of Mumbai that stretches from Thane to Kurla lies on the eastern half of the island. Both suburbs are separated by the Borivali National Park till

540-656: The original "sixty-six villages" on the island. It was inhabited by (Aagri, Kunbi) farmers, agriculturists, (Bhandaris) toddy tappers , (Sutar, Malis) artisans and (Kolis) fisherfolk who trace their conversion to Christianity back to 55 AD with the arrival of Christ's disciple, Bartholomew the Apostle , in north Konkan region . They were later converted to the Latin Church in India by four religious orders —the Dominicans , Franciscans , Augustinians & Jesuits — who arrived in

567-606: The presence of the accumulation of silt, debris and plastic bags. After the 2005 Maharashtra floods , where more than a 100 people died, the BMC has undertaken a desilting and widening project to clean up the river and prevent future flooding. Unregulated urbanisation has resulted in severe environmental degradation like the narrowing of riverbanks for housing at Leprosy Colony, located between Dahisar and Borivali, and Cowsheds. The river has been frequently diverted due to dumping of construction debris , solid waste and industrial waste in

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594-485: The property. Salsette Salsette Island ( Portuguese : Salsete , Konkani : साष्टी , romanized:  sāṣṭī , Sashti) is an island in Konkan division of the state of Maharashtra , along India's west coast . Administratively known as Greater Mumbai (Greater Bombay), the Mumbai Suburban district , Mira Bhayander and a portion of Thane district lie within it, making it very populous and one of

621-453: The region from Western Railway Tracks on Dahisar West up to Dahisar Bridge and dumping of solid waste generated at Stables near Daulat Nagar and areas near S.V.Road. Encroachments on dry areas of riverbed as well as on the banks of this river had choked and pinched the watercourse and aggravated the risk of flooding. Field observations indicated that the river also suffered from dumping of debris from construction activities, industrial wastes on

648-431: The slum near Mahim), which had to be reached by a boat. These are no longer separate, being joined to Salsette via reclamation. The highest point is the conical peak of Kanheri (467 metres) in Borivali National Park on the northern reaches of the island. This national park is the world's biggest within city limits. The island is at the confluence of a number of fault lines. This makes the area earthquake -prone, up to

675-437: Was about 2.5 metres. Thousands of families living below the poverty line became shelterless overnight, losing entire livelihoods. Various locations such as Daulat Nagar, Leprosy Colony, Mhatre Wadi and Kandar Pada were completely submerged under 3 metres of water due to high tide indicating the need for tide regulatory gates at the mouth of the river. State Bank of India Staff "Vaibhav" CHS society, because of its peculiar location,

702-537: Was frequently invaded by the Mahratta forces until 1739. Marquis de Pombal formally ceded what would become Greater Bombay, to Peshwa Balaji Bajirao of the Mahratta Confederacy in the 1750s. The British occupied Salsette in 1774, and it was formally ceded to the East India Company in the 1782 Treaty of Salbai . In 1782, William Hornby , then Governor of Bombay Province , initiated the project of connecting

729-406: Was particularly affected. Most of the bungalow type of resident homes in this locality were completely submerged. Subsequent to this event, flooding of the river, although of lesser intensity, became a regular phenomenon for this location. As of March 2016, most of the original residents of this society have either sold of their property or are staying in rented accommodation, awaiting redevelopment of

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