The Western Suburbs is the western precinct of the city of

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 ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area, the List of countries and dependencies by population, second-most populous ...

. The Western Suburbs consist 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 an ...

Bandra Bandra ( æːɳɖɾa also known as Vandre ( �aːn̪d̪ɾe is an upscale coastal suburb located in Mumbai (Bombay) area of the Konkan division, Maharashtra, India. The suburb is located to the immediate north of River Mithi, which separates B ...

Bhayander Bhayandar is a suburb outside the Mumbai located near the Vasai Creek. It has a large Gujarati and Marwari population as well other mixed populations as well. It falls under the North Central ward of the Municipal Corporation. Geography Bhaya ...

Borivali Borivali (Pronunciation: oːɾiʋəliː is a suburb and is located at the north-western end of Mumbai and has a large Gujarati population followed by others. Traditionally the tribals and East Indians lived in Borivali. The attractions incl ...

Dahisar Dahisar (Marathi pronunciation: ̪əɦisəɾ is the northernmost neighborhood (and railway station) of Mumbai. Dahisar is the first locality of Mumbai from the north. The suburb is a very cosmopolitan suburb, which has a large Gujarati popul ...

Goregaon Goregaon ( �oːɾeɡaːʋ is a suburb of Mumbai city, in the Mumbai Suburban district of India. It has a railway station on the Mumbai suburban railway on the Western Line. An extension of the Harbour Line was completed in 2018 because of ...

Jogeshwari Jogeshwari (Pronunciation: ͡ʒoɡeːʃʋəɾiː is a suburb located in the western part of Mumbai, Maharashtra, India. It is notable for its caves - 'Jogeshwari Caves', particularly one containing a shrine of the Hindu Goddess Jogeshwari, L ...

, Juhu,

Kandivali Kandivali (Pronunciation: aːn̪d̪iʋəliː formerly Khandolee is a neighbourhood in the north of Mumbai, Maharashtra, India and has a large Marathi and Koli population followed by Gujarati population living in small areas. The area als ...

Khar Khar may refer to: Places * Khar, Mumbai, a suburb of Mumbai, India * Khar, Punjab, a town in the Punjab Province, Pakistan * Khar, Bajaur, a town in the Bajaur Agency of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas, Pakistan * Khar, Nepal, a village ...

Malad Malad (Pronunciation: aːlaːɖ is a suburb located in North Mumbai. Malad has a railway station Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on ra ...

Mira Road Mira Road (Marathi pronunciation: iɾaː is a suburb in the Western Suburbs of Mumbai which stretches from Bandra to Bhayander in Mumbai Metropolitan Region situated in the north-western portion of Salsette Island, Maharashtra state, India. ...

, Santacruz and

Vile Parle Vile Parle (, also known as Parle, pronounced "Parle" or "Parla"), is a neighbourhood and also the name of the railway station in the Western suburb of Mumbai. Vile Parle has a significantly strong base of Marathi and Gujarati population. It s ...

. Geographically, the Western Suburbs lie at the western part of

Salsette Island Salsette Island is an island in Konkan division of the state of Maharashtra on India's west coast. Administratively known as Greater Mumbai, the city district of Mumbai, Mumbai Suburban District, Mira Bhayander and a portion of Thane lie wi ...

, is a continuous urban sprawl spanning the areas from

, which is separated by the Vasai Creek from

Vasai-Virar Vasai-Virar is an agglomeration of four previously governed municipal councils i.e. Vasai, Virar, Nala Sopara, and Navghar-Manikpur and a few villages on the west as well as the east of the congested city area. It lies in the Konkan division o ...

city and Mithi River from

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 C ...

(

Churchgate Churchgate (Marathi pronunciation: ͡ʃəɾt͡ʃɡeːʈ is an area in South Mumbai. During the eighteenth and up to the mid-19th century, Mumbai was a walled city. The city walls had three gates, and Churchgate, named after St. Thomas Cath ...

Mahim Mahim (Marathi pronunciation: aːɦiːm(Marathi: माहिम) is a neighbourhood in Mumbai, Maharashtra, India. The Mahim Junction railway station on the Western Railway and Harbour Railway of the Mumbai Suburban Railway network is the l ...

). The Western Suburbs are some of the oldest suburbs of the city. In particular, Bandra has existed as a separate town almost as long as Mumbai. The area started its history as a bunch of fishing villages. River

Mithi Mithi (, ur, ), is a city and the capital of Tharparkar District in the Sindh province of Pakistan. It became the district headquarter of the Tharparkar District in 1990, after the area's separation from Mirpur Khas. Mithi is one of the very fe ...

flows through this area and also serves as a sewage line. In the 1980s, a well-intentioned attempt to set up a new downtown away from

Nariman Point Nariman Point is a prominent downtown area of Mumbai in Maharashtra, India. Located on the southern tip of the Mumbai peninsula, at the end of the Mumbai's Marine Drive, Nariman Point houses some of India's prestigious business headquarters. ...

resulted in the establishment of 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 ...

. Most of the larger financial banks and companies moved to this place.Mumbai/Western Suburbs
Wikivoyage. Apart from the usual suburban sprawl, this area has some nice beaches, especially near Malad. Jogeshwari has hot springs which are reputed to have medicinal properties. Borivali is the entry point for the

Sanjay Gandhi National Park Sanjay Gandhi National Park, also known as SGNP, is an protected area in Mumbai, Maharashtra. It was established in 1969 with its headquarters situated at Borivali. The 2400-year-old Kanheri caves, sculpted by monks out of the rocky basalti ...

, which is why the wildlife reserve is more popularly known as Borivali National Park. Many software and BPO companies have their offices in and around

SEEPZ Santacruz Electronics Export Processing Zone (SEEPZ) is a Special Economic Zone in Mumbai, India. Situated in the Andheri East area, it is subjected to liberal economic laws as compared to the rest of India to promote rapid economic growth usin ...

in Andheri. The western suburbs also boast of the Juhu Beach. These suburbs can get extremely crowded in the evenings, with very severe traffic jams.

Division

The city of

lies on Salsette Island. Administratively it has two official divisions:

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 C ...

(

) and

Mumbai Suburban district Mumbai Suburban district ( Marathi: ''Mumbai Upanagar Jilhā'') is the second most populous district of Maharashtra in the Konkan Division. With its administrative headquarters in Bandra, the district consists of three subdivisions or tehsils ( ...

(

consists of the island city that lies to the south of Salsette Island. This region is called

South Mumbai South Mumbai, colloquially SoBo from South Bombay in Anglo-Indian English, administratively the Mumbai City District, is the city centre and the southernmost precinct of Greater Bombay. It extends from Colaba to Mahim and Sion neighbour ...

. The western part of Mumbai Suburban district (to the west of Sanjay Gandhi National Park) is called the Western Suburbs and the eastern part of the district is called the Eastern Suburbs. The northernmost portion of the island which is outside

city limits, lies in

Thane District Thane district (Pronunciation: �ʰaːɳe previously named Taana or Thana) is a district in the Konkan Division of Maharashtra, India. At the 2011 Census it was the most populated district in the country, with 11,060,148 inhabitants; however, ...

, the Western Suburbs and the Eastern Suburbs are not officially defined divisions of

and different people may include different areas in each division. This article uses the most popular divisions.

Transport

Air

Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport is an international airport serving Mumbai and the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR). It is the second busiest airport in the country in terms of total and international passenger traffic aft ...

is located in Andheri. Most 5-star hotels are located nearby. Juhu Aerodrome, which is used by small private aircraft and as a heliport, is located in Juhu.

Rail

Each of the suburbs has a railway station on the

Western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

and 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 the city's suburban railway system.

and

are important railway stations. A branch of the Harbour line terminates at

with further extension up to Borivali-Bhayander in the planning stage.

Bandra Terminus Mumbai Bandra Terminus (station code: BDTS) also known as Vandre Terminus (in Marathi)is a railway terminus in Bandra from where trains bound for Northern India and Western India are scheduled regularly. It was built in the 1990s to deconges ...

is one of the six terminals for long-distance trains in Mumbai. Line 1 of the Mumbai Metro also spans the entire suburb of

.A Mumbai Metro train every three minutes - Mumbai - DNA
Dnaindia.com. Retrieved on 2016-12-21.

Road

The

Western Express Highway The Western Express Highway, abbreviated to WEH (officially Ali Yavar Jung Marg after the former Governor of Maharashtra), is a major north–south 8-10 lane arterial road in Mumbai, India, stretching from the suburb of Mira Road to Bandra. T ...

(WEH) connects Bhayander-Mira Road-Dahisar-Borivali belt, the northernmost suburb of the Western Suburbs, to Vile Parle-Bandra belt and then Worli and South Mumbai via the

Bandra–Worli Sea Link The Bandra-Worli Sea Link (officially known as Rajiv Gandhi Sea Link) is a 5.6 km long, 8-lane wide bridge that links Bandra in the Western Suburbs of Mumbai with Worli in South Mumbai. It is the longest sea bridge, as well as the 4th longes ...

. WEH runs parallel to the Western Line, which is on its western side. SV Road (Swami Vivekananda Road) is another major road in the Western Suburbs, it begins in

in the south and ends at the Dahisar Flyover junction with the Western Express Highway in the north. However, connectivity from the Eastern Suburbs is poor. The Andheri-Ghatkopar Link Road, Jogeshwari – Vikhroli Link Road (JVLR), the Andheri-Kurla Road and the

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 overnigh ...

(SCLR) are the major road links between the Eastern and Western Suburbs. Bus services are provided by Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST). The "200" & "300" series buses serves the Western Suburbs.

Notes

References

External links

{{Tourist attractions in Mumbai Geography of Mumbai Neighbourhoods in Mumbai Suburbs of Mumbai