Interesting Facts about Mumbai
- Mumbai has the double distinction of being the most populous state in India and the fourth most populous city in the world with an approximate population of 20.5 million in the metropolitan area.
- Navi Mumbai is the world’s largest planned city with an area covering 344 square kilometers. The twin city of Mumbai was developed in 1972. The Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation manages the city’s affairs and is the one of richest corporations in Asia.
- Mumbai is the richest city in India and is the country’s commercial and entertainment capital. It has the highest GDP among any city in South, West or Central Asia and is one of the top ten financial centers in the world.
- The iconic Gateway of India was designed by the British architect, George Wittet, to commemorate the visit of King George V and Queen Mary to Mumbai and was opened to the public in 1924. When India gained independence, the last of the British ships left the shores from the Gateway of India.
- The Haji Ali Dargah is one of the most important landmarks in Mumbai. The mosque, built over the tomb of the saint Haji Ali, is situated 500 yards into the sea and so can only be reached at low tide. During high tide, the mosque appears to be floating in the sea as the causeway leading to it is submerged.
- The famed dabbawallas of Mumbai are famous worldwide because of their efficiency, with Forbes giving them the `six-sigma rating, which means that they make about one error in six million transactions. Dabbawallas are an unique Mumbai institution feted by the high and mighty like Prince Charles.
- Spread over 535 acres, Dharavi is one of the largest slums in the world and has a population of approximately 1 million. The slum has around 5000 businesses and 15 thousand single room factories. The goods manufactured here are exported throughout the world.
- Mumbai was ranked the “Alpha world city” in 2008 by the Globalization and World Cities Study Group. The same year Forbes magazine ranked the city seventh in the list of “Top Ten Cities for Billionaires”.
- Mumbai's suburban rail systems carry a total of 2.2 billion passengers every year. Incidentally, the world's population is 6 billion. Around 3,000 people die in train related accidents each year. They either fall or are pushed off carriages traveling too fast or too full, or are injured while crossing railway tracks.
- Marine Drive is a ‘C’-shaped six-lane concrete road along the coast of Arabian Sea. It is also known as the ‘Queen’s Necklace’ because if viewed at night from an elevated point anywhere along the drive, the street lights resemble a string of pearls like a breathtaking necklace.
- A large arch-like structure, the Gateway of India, is the first thing people see when they reach Mumbai by water. It is often the first part of India that is seen as well. The initial approach road to the gateway was never built because of lack of funds, so today the road leading up to the gateway is angled.
- In what might come as a shock to Mumbai newbies, the city’s High Court is actually saturated with cases going as far back as 20 years ago, and then some.
- The Sanjay Gandhi National Park is a 104-square-kilometer park within a metropolitan area, dividing the western and central suburbs, forcing millions of people who travel between them, to go around the park. This is a protected forested area that houses around 5,000 insect species, 1,000 plants species, 250 bird species, 40 mammal species, 38 reptile species, nine amphibian species and ancient Buddhist caves going back to the first century.
- Dhobi Ghat is a place where Dhobis, traditional laundrymen and the laundries are called ghats, work to clean clothes. At Dhobi Ghat near Saat Rasta at Mahalaxmi, over 200 dhobis work together. The dhobis collect dirty laundry from houses, wash and return it neatly ironed. At Dhobi Ghat there are rows of concrete wash pens, each with its own flogging stone. It is now a familiar sight to see tourists filming this scene from the Mahalaxmi Station Bridge.
Citations
"Human-Environmental Interactions." Human-Environmental Interactions - Nizalowska_HumB. N.p., n.d. Web. 07 May 2013.
"Human-Environmental Interactions." Human-Environmental Interactions - Nizalowska_HumB. N.p., n.d. Web. 07 May 2013.