Kurla (Pronunciation: uɾlaː is a neighbourhood of East Mumbai, India. It is the headquarters of the Kurla taluka of Mumbai Suburban district. The neighbourhood is named after the eponymous East Indian village that it grew out of. It falls under Zone 5, Ward 'L' of the Bombay Municipal Corporation. Its railway station, spelt as ''Coorla'' until 1890, is one of the busiest on the Mumbai suburban railway on the central and harbour railway lines of Mumbai as is the Lokmanya Tilak Terminus (LTT) for out-station passenger/express trains.

History

Kurla gets its name from the East Indian village of Kurla, whose name, in turn, originated from "Kurli", the local name for crab, as these were found in plenty in marshes in the vicinity of the village. The village of Kurla came under Portuguese rule when the

Treaty of Bassein (1534) {{Infobox treaty , name = Treaty of Baçaim (1534) , long_name = , image = , image_width = 250px , image_alt = , caption = , type = , context ...

was signed by

Sultan Bahadur of Gujarat Qutb-ud-Din Bahadur Shah, born Bahadur Khan was a sultan of the Muzaffarid dynasty who reigned over the Gujarat Sultanate, a late medieval kingdom in India from 1526 to 1535 and again from 1536 to 1537. He ascended to throne after competing with ...

and the

Kingdom of Portugal The Kingdom of Portugal ( la, Regnum Portugalliae, pt, Reino de Portugal) was a monarchy in the western Iberian Peninsula and the predecessor of the modern Portuguese Republic. Existing to various extents between 1139 and 1910, it was also kno ...

on 23 December 1534. In 1548, the village of Kurla and six other villages were given by the Governor of

Portuguese India The State of India ( pt, Estado da Índia), also referred as the Portuguese State of India (''Estado Português da Índia'', EPI) or simply Portuguese India (), was a state of the Portuguese Empire founded six years after the discovery of a se ...

Antonio Pessoa Antonio is a masculine given name of Etruscan origin deriving from the root name Antonius. It is a common name among Romance language-speaking populations as well as the Balkans and Lusophone Africa. It has been among the top 400 most popular male ...

as a reward for his military services. Kurla remained under Portuguese rule until the British occupied Salsette Island in 1774. The island was formally ceded to the East India Company in the 1782 Treaty of Salbai. In 1805, Kurla was connected to

Sion Sion may refer to * an alternative transliteration of Zion People * Sion (name) or Siôn, a Welsh and other given name and surname, including a list of people and fictional characters with the name * Shion or Sion, a Japanese given name Plac ...

on Bombay Island by the

Sion Causeway Sion Causeway (also known as Duncan Causeway) is a major causeway in Bombay, India which connects Sion in Bombay with Kurla in Salsette. The construction of the causeway began in 1798 and was completed in 1805 by Jonathan Duncan, Governor of ...

. Coorla, as it was spelt during the British Raj until 1890, was a major station on the Great Indian Peninsula Railway between Bombay and Thane, the first railway line in British India when it opened in 1853. In 1808, Kurla, along with the villages of Mohili, Kolekalyan,

Marol Marol is a locality in the suburb of the Andheri (East) in Mumbai, India. History The area has been inhabited for centuries, successively coming under both Portuguese and British rule. The village is filled with the Dawoodi Bohra community. Th ...

, Sahar, Asalphe, and Parjapur, were given by the British to a Parsi merchant of Bombay, Mr. Hormasji Bamanji Wadia in exchange for a piece of land near the Apollo pier gate in Bombay. His Son, Mr. Ardeshir Hormasji Wadia, after whom the A. H. Wadia Road was named, paid for them a yearly Quit-rent of £358 (Rs. 3587). Kurla had two cotton mills, one of them, the Dharamsi Punjabhai, being the largest cotton spinning and weaving mill in the

Bombay Presidency The Bombay Presidency or Bombay Province, also called Bombay and Sind (1843–1936), was an administrative subdivision (province) of British India, with its capital in the city that came up over the seven islands of Bombay. The first mainl ...

, with 92,094 spindles and 1280 looms. The other was the Kurla Spinning and Weaving Mill. Kurla village had a population of 9,715 at that time. About half of them worked in the mills, while the rest were fishermen, husbandmen (farmers) and salt-makers. The Holy Cross Church at Kurla, built during the Portuguese rule and rebuilt in 1848, is one of the oldest churches in Mumbai. The Mithibai Hormasji Wadia Dispensary was built by Mr. Bamanji Hormasji Wadia in 1855, and endowed by him with £1200 (Rs. 12,000). It was in charge of an assistant surgeon, and, in 1880–81, had an attendance of 7367 out-patients. The salt pans covered an area of about and yielded a yearly revenue of £3418 (Rs. 34,180). There was also a considerable manufacture of shell lime. The Stone quarries of Kurla were well known and supplied material for the construction of most of the city's famous heritage buildings like the Prince of Wales Museum, and the

General Post Office The General Post Office (GPO) was the state postal system and telecommunications carrier of the United Kingdom until 1969. Before the Acts of Union 1707, it was the postal system of the Kingdom of England, established by Charles II in 1660. ...

among others. The beginning of the twentieth century saw Kurla develop as an important centre of the mill industry. In 1910, there were reported to be several mills in Kurla, engaged in the manufacturing of cotton cloth and woollen cloth in steam factories. Kurla, however, was an old textile industrial core, an outlier to the main cotton mill zone. A relatively cheaper land value and nearness to water and power mains enabled rapid industrial expansion of the suburbs and the Kurla-

Ghatkopar Ghatkopar (Pronunciation: �ʱaːʈkopəɾ is a suburb in eastern Mumbai. The area is served by the railway station on the Central Line of the Mumbai Suburban Railway and the metro station on Line 1 of the Mumbai Metro. History Ghatkopar in ...

–

Vikhroli Vikhroli (Marathi pronunciation: Help:IPA/Marathi, �ikʰɾoɭiː is a suburb of Mumbai located on the northeastern side of the city. The suburb has a railway station by the name Vikhroli on the Central Railway (India), Central Railway line. ...

–

Bhandup Bhandup (Pronunciation: ʱaːɳɖup is a suburban locality in Mumbai, in the state of Maharashtra, India. The name ''Bhandup'' is derived from ''Bhandupeshwar'', one of the names of the Hindu god Shiva. An old temple dedicated to Lord Shiva, ...

belt soon developed into the largest industrial zone in the suburbs of Mumbai. The Central Railway began its Harbour Line services from Kurla to Reay Road station on 12 December 1910. This service was extended to Victoria Terminus in 1925. The Kurla Railway Car-shed was constructed in 1925 when electrification of the Great Indian Peninsula Railway (GIPR) Harbour line was undertaken. The first electric train in Asia that ran between CST and Coorla on 3 February 1925 was maintained at this car shed. The

Salsette–Trombay Railway The Salsette–Trombay Railway (also known as the Central Salsette Tramway) was a standard-gauge railway line on the island of Salsette in the city of Mumbai (Bombay), India. The line was opened in 1928 by the Great Indian Peninsular Railway u ...

, also known as the Central Salsette Tramway, opened in 1928. The 13-kilometre line, a project of the Bombay Improvement Trust run by the GIPR, ran from Trombay to Andheri via Kurla and lasted only a few years.

Premier Automobiles Premier Ltd. (formerly known as The Premier Automobiles Limited) was an Indian automotive manufacturer company, based in Mumbai, India. The company is owned by the Walchand Group. Walchand Hirachand established the Premier Automobiles Ltd.(PAL ...

built their first automobile assembly plant in Kurla in 1946 and began production in March 1947, collaborating with American automobile manufacturer

Chrysler Stellantis North America (officially FCA US and formerly Chrysler ()) is one of the " Big Three" automobile manufacturers in the United States, headquartered in Auburn Hills, Michigan. It is the American subsidiary of the multinational automoti ...

to manufacture

Dodge Dodge is an American brand of automobiles and a division of Stellantis, based in Auburn Hills, Michigan. Dodge vehicles have historically included performance cars, and for much of its existence Dodge was Chrysler's mid-priced brand above P ...

Plymouth Plymouth () is a port city and unitary authority in South West England. It is located on the south coast of Devon, approximately south-west of Exeter and south-west of London. It is bordered by Cornwall to the west and south-west. Plymouth ...

and Desoto models in India. The iconic

Premier Padmini The Premier Padmini was a four-seat saloon manufactured in India from 1964 to 2001 by Premier Automobiles Limited, a division of the Walchand Group, under license from Fiat and marketed initially as the ''Fiat 1100 Delight'' — and from 197 ...

car was also built at Kurla from 1964 until the plant closed down in 1997. This resulted in the development of the old Kurla neighbourhood into an automobile industrial zone during the late fifties and sixties. The Bombay Taximen Union began building the Taximen Colony close to the Mithi river in Kurla in 1969. It was inaugurated by union leader George Fernandes in 1972. The Bombay Taximen Cooperative housing society is Mumbai's second largest housing society. The Dairy Development Department of the State Government, in order to cope-up with the increasing demand for milk, established a dairy at Nehru nagar, Kurla (East) in 1975.

Geography

Kurla lies on the southern end of Salsette Island along the east bank of the Mithi River. Kurla may be divided into two parts: Kurla (East) and Kurla (West), separated by the Central Railway line. Kurla East is bordered by the suburban neighbourhoods of

Chunabhatti Chunabhatti is a suburb of Mumbai and a part of Sion, Mumbai. It is located on the Eastern Express Highway. It is served by Chunabhatti railway station on the Harbour Line of the Mumbai Suburban Railway. Chunabhatti (Chuna - lime, bhatti - ...

in the south, Chembur in the East and

in the North. Kurla West is surrounded by Ghatkopar and Saki Naka neighbourhood of

Andheri Andheri ( �n̪d̪ʱeɾiː is a locality in the western part of the city of Mumbai in India. Udayanagari, the name of a hill near the Mahakali caves, inspired the name Andheri. On the former islet of Versova, also known as Vasave, there was ano ...

East to its North,

Kalina Kalina may refer to: People * Kalina people, or Caribs, an indigenous people of the northern coastal areas of South America * Kalina language, or Carib, the language of the Kalina people * Kalina (given name) * Kalina (surname) * Noah Kalina, Ame ...

and the

Bandra Kurla Complex The Bandra Kurla Complex is a business and residential district in the city of Mumbai, India. It is a prominent upscale commercial hub which commands some of the highest property rates in the country. According to MMRDA, the complex is t ...

to its West and the

– Dharavi area to its south across the

Mahim Creek Mahim Creek (locally known as ''Bandra ki Khadi'') is a creek in Mumbai, India. The Mithi River drains into the creek which drains into the Mahim Bay. The creek forms the boundary between the city and suburbs. The creek is swamped by mangroves a ...

. The Mithi River enters into Kurla's north-west corner near Sakinaka, running south along the Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport boundary wall and the Bail Bazar locality, past the CST road and Taximen colony areas and empties into the Mahim Creek at the southern end of Kurla.

Administration

Kurla is the headquarters of the Kurla taluka of Mumbai Suburban District. The taluka was carved out of South Salsette Taluka in 1920. It covers an area of 135 square kilometres, covering a total of 29 villages in two circles. This taluka occupies the east side of the district and is bordered by the Bandra taluka in the West, the Sanjay Gandhi National Park to the northwest, the Thane District in the north, the Thane Creek to the east, and

Mumbai City district Mumbai City district is a district of Maharashtra in Konkan Division. As a city district, it has no headquarters or subdivisions. It, along with the Mumbai Suburban District, makes up the metropolis of Mumbai. This area is called the "Island Cit ...

to the south. The entire suburb falls under Zone 5, Ward 'L' of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation. The Ward municipal offices are located in the Municipal market building on S. G.Barve Road. Residents of Kurla come under the

Kurla (Vidhan Sabha constituency) Kurla Assembly constituency is one of the 288 Vidhan Sabha constituencies of Maharashtra state in western India. This constituency presently, after delimitation of Legislative Assembly constituencies in 2008, is reserved for the candidates belon ...

(Number 174). The number of electorates in 2009 was 284,951 (male 161,459, female 123,492).

Localities

Kurla displays an urban blend of residential colonies, big and small, industrial estates commercial enclaves and slums. The L-Ward has the highest number of public open spaces subject to encroachment in the city with 80 of its 139 open spaces being encroached upon.

Old Kurla

Villagers cross at Kurla Christian village

The earliest settlements in Kurla were in this area in the northern end of Kurla West. It consists of the Kurla Christian Village, an East Indian pocket of Christians who stem from Portuguese and Koli traditions, and the adjoining predominantly Christian Hall Village and Culbavour.

Kohinoor city

Kohinoor city is an integrated township in Kurla west, comprising about 900,000 sq ft of commercial space and about 300,000 sq ft for retail, residential, hospitality and education. promoted by Kohinoor Group founded by Manohar Joshi. The site was formerly a motorcar manufacturing company called

which used to manufacture its famous Padmini car here. The factory was closed and the Joshis bought 36-acres from Premier Automobiles in 2005. The neighbouring Premier residency buildings by HDIL and the Slum Rehabilitation Authority (SRA) buildings were built on land previously owned by Fiat Automobiles.

Transport

Kurla is accessible from all parts of Mumbai by road and rail due to its central location.

Roads

The

Lal Bahadur Shastri Marg Lal Bahadur Shastri Marg, commonly known by its abbreviation LBS Marg, is a 21 km long, major arterial road connecting the neighbouring city of Thane with Sion in Mumbai. It passes through heavily populated areas of the Eastern Suburbs in ...

(formerly known as Old Agra Road) is the arterial road for Kurla West. The road begins at the southern end of Salsette Island, passing through Kurla and continuing up north into

towards Thane. The Andheri – Kurla road links Kurla with

via Saki Naka, The road is notorious for its long traffic jams. while CST road (

Central Salsette Tramway Central is an adjective usually referring to being in the center of some place or (mathematical) object. Central may also refer to: Directions and generalised locations * Central Africa, a region in the centre of Africa continent, also known as ...

Road) leads to Santacruz. The Kurla Depot Junction is one of LBS marg's busiest junctions, with one arm proceeding towards the Western Express Highway and the other leading to the Santacruz-Chembur Link Road flyover. The 6.45 kilometre long

Santa Cruz – Chembur link road Santa Claus, also known as Father Christmas, Saint Nicholas, Saint Nick, Kris Kringle, or simply Santa, is a legendary figure originating in Western Christian culture who is said to bring children gifts during the late evening and overnight ...

was opened in April 2014. It connects the east and west sides of Kurla via a Road over bridge (ROB) over the Central railway line, which is also the city's first double-decker flyover The road finally connects to the Eastern Express Highway at the Amar mahal junction. The Eastern Express Highway is the main thoroughfare for Kurla East. It runs from

in the south to Mulund in the North.

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 ...

buses travel from Kurla to all areas of Mumbai. The Kurla BEST Depot on the west suffered serious damage during the

Mumbai floods of 2005 The 2005 Maharashtra floods impacted many parts of the Indian state of Maharashtra including large areas of the metropolis Mumbai, a city located on the coast of the Arabian Sea, on the Western coast of India, in which approximately 1,094 peo ...

and has since been shut for redevelopment. Buses from this depot used to cater to Mumbai University (Kalina Campus),

and Chembur.

Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation The Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation abbreviated as (MSRTC, or simply ST), is the state run bus service of Maharashtra, India which serves routes to towns and cities within Maharashtra as well as to its adjoining states. It has a flee ...

buses ply from their depot at Nehru Nagar in the East to major towns in the State. Auto rickshaws and taxis are also available.

Railways

Kurla railway station is a junction of the Central Railway Suburban line and the Harbour Line. Lokmanya Tilak Terminus, formerly known as Kurla Terminus, is situated in the East. It was inaugurated in the 1980s and renovated in 2013. The Terminus handles several Central Railway Zone outstation trains every day.

Entertainment

Mumbai's one of the largest malls,

Phoenix Market City (Mumbai) Phoenix Marketcity is the name of several shopping malls developed by The Phoenix Mills Co. Ltd. of India, including: * Phoenix Marketcity (Bangalore) * Phoenix Marketcity (Chennai) * Phoenix Marketcity (Mumbai) Phoenix Marketcity is situated ...

is situated on L.B.S. Marg, Kurla (West). Kurla has 3 multiscreen Cinema Halls housing: * 8-screen PVR Cinema in Phoenix Market City, Phoenix Mall, L.B.S. Marg, Kurla (West) * 3-screen complex (Kamran, Kalpana and King's Talkies), L.B.S. Marg, Kurla (West) ( Now closed & converted into an Banquet Hall) * 2-screen Bharat Cineplex (previously known as Bharat Talkies), New Mill Road, Kurla (West) And 2 single-screen Cinema Halls: * Akash Talkies, Akash Talkies Lane, Kurla (West) * Sheetal Talkies, L.B.S. Marg, Kurla (West) (closed & converted into an commercial and residential complex) * New Model Talkies (now demolished).

Education

Kurla has one engineering college, Don Bosco Institute of Technology, and several schools, including:-. * Holy Cross High School * Orchid International School, S.G. Barve Marg, Kurla (West) * Kohinoor International School, Kirol Road, Kurla (West) * Shree Gujarati Samaj Vidyalaya, New Mill Road, Kurla (West) * Karthika High School & Junior College * St. Joseph High School *

Michael High School, Kurla Michael High School is located in Kurla, a suburb of Mumbai, India. It prepares students for the Secondary School Leaving Certificate examinations conducted by the Maharashtra State Board of Secondary and Higher Secondary Education. Location ...

* Anjuman Islam High School, S.G. Barve Marg, Kurla (West) * Mumbai Utkal English High School * Swami Vivekananda Vidyalaya, Kurla (East) * Vivek english high school (East)

Notable people

* Iqbal Abdulla, Indian cricketer, playing in Royal Challengers Bangalore *

Shaikh Shamim Ahmed Shaikh Shamim Ahmed (20 March 1938 – 22 September 2019) was an Indian politician and social worker. In 1980, he was elected as an MLA from the Mumbai Chinchpokli Constituency as an Indian National Congress candidate. Early life Shaikh Sh ...

, MLA, Indian politician and Senior Congress leader *

Steven Dias Steven Benedic Dias (born 25 December 1983) is an Indian former professional footballer and current coach of MFA Elite Division outfit Ambernath United Atlanta FC. An attacking midfielder who played on the wings, he was known for his long ran ...

, Indian football player (former resident) * Erica Fernandes, model and actress *

Gurudas Kamat Gurudas Kamat (5 October 1954 – 22 August 2018) was an Indian politician from the Indian National Congress (INC). An advocate by profession, Kamat was a commerce graduate from R.A. Podar College, Mumbai and has a law degree from the Governm ...

, politician and former member of parliament * Navneet Kaur, actress (former resident) MP Amravati * Kamran Khan, cricketer, former Pune Warriors player *

Sarfaraz Khan (cricketer) Sarfaraz Naushad Khan (born 22 October 1997) is an Indian cricketer who plays for Mumbai in the Ranji Trophy and for Delhi Capitals in the Indian Premier League (IPL). Sarfaraz represented India in the ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup in 2014 and ...

, Royal Challengers Bangalore *

Nawab Malik Nawab Malik ( Marathi:नवाब मलीक), is a politician, who served as the Minority Development, Aukaf, Skill Development and Entrepreneurship Minister of Maharashtra and also the guardian minister of Gondia & Parbhani. He is the ...

, a former minister of Maharashtra, former MLA and a leader of the Nationalist Congress Party. *

Naezy Naved Shaikh (born 10 August 1993), better known by his stage name Naezy, is an Indian rapper from Mumbai, Maharashtra, who first broke into mainstream rap with the song ''"Mere Gully Mein"'' featuring fellow rapper DIVINE. A fictional version o ...

, Rapper, Pioneer of Mumbai Hip-Hop scene. *

Candice Pinto Candice Pinto is an Indian supermodel who won the title of Miss Tourism International 2002. She is a regular at premier fashion events such as the Lakme Fashion Week and India Fashion Week, and is seen on many Indian fashion magazine covers. Ea ...

, model and

Miss Tourism International Miss Tourism International is an annual international beauty pageant run and owned by Malaysia–based D’Touch International Sdn. Bhd. Foundation. The current Miss Tourism International is Suphatra Kliangprom from Thailand. She was crowned on ...

2002 *

Balwinder Sandhu Balwinder Singh Sandhu (born 3 August 1956) is a former Indian Test cricketer. He represented India in eight Test matches as a medium pace bowler who could swing the ball and was a useful batsman. Career A late starter in cricket, Sandhu' ...

, Indian Test cricketer

Hospitals

Khan Bahadur Bhabha Hospital

The Khan Bahadur Bhabha Municipal General Hospital, on Belgrami Road, near Bharat Cinema, is one of Mumbai's 16 peripheral hospitals run by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation. It has more than 300 beds and provides secondary-level referral health care services. The hospital started off in 1935 as a 30-bed maternity home called Khan Bahadur Hospital. An outpatient department (OPD) was added in 1950, converting it into a general hospital. Several other departments like surgery and

pediatrics Pediatrics ( also spelled ''paediatrics'' or ''pædiatrics'') is the branch of medicine that involves the medical care of infants, children, adolescents, and young adults. In the United Kingdom, paediatrics covers many of their youth until th ...

were added from 1962 on. Additionally, 'L' Ward has 9 municipal dispensaries, 12 municipal health posts and 67 privately run nursing homes and hospitals.

Other hospitals

* Arpan Nursing Home * Aryan Hospital * Central Hospital * City Hospital and Research Center * Dr. Agashe's Maternity & Surgical Nursing Home * Dr. Deshpande Nursing Home * Dr. Mendadkars Children Hospital * Fauziya Hospital * Fehmida Nursing Home * Habib Hospital * Infy Eye Care * Islahi Day Care * K.B. Bhabha Hospital * Kohinoor City Hospital * Kurla Nursing Home * Masoom Children Nursing Home * Neelam Hospital * Chota bhaba hospital kurla east BMC * New Noor Hospital * Omkar Nursing Home * Ram Agarwal Eye Hospital * Roshan Multispeciality Hospital & ICU * Sai-Krupa Eye Clinic & Nursing Home * Sheetal Nursing Home * Sindhu Maternity & Nursing Home * Vardhaman Children Hospital * Vcare Diagnostic

Places of worship

* Church of Christ India - Thakkar Bappa Colony, Rajiv Gandhi Nagar, Kurla (East) * Markaz Masjid – Pipe Road * Mehboob-E-Subhani Masjid, New Mill Road, Kurla (West) * Shri Adishwar Jain Temple, New Mill Road, Kurla (West) * Shri Munisuvrat Swami Jain Temple, New Mill Road, Kurla (West) * Shri Labdhidayak Shantinath Jain Temple, Takiya Ward, Kurla (West) * Sarveshwar Mandir, Takiya Ward, Kurla (West) * Shri Chandraprabh Swami Jain Temple, S.G. Barve Marg, Kurla (East) * Shri Ambe Mata Temple, Near Kurla Garden, Kurla (West) * Hari Masjid – Kurla Garden * Shri Balaji Temple, Pipe Road, Kurla (West) * Markaz Masjid – Pipe Road * Habibiya masjid kurla East quresh nagar (EAST) *Badi Masjid Kurla east quresh nagar(East) * Church of Christ, Kurla – Telugu Baptist Church, L.B.S. Marg, Kurla (West) court * Holy Cross Church, Premier Road