Chembur

Chembur Chembur
Neighbourhood

Chembur (Marathi: चेंबूर) is a suburban neighbourhood in the eastern Mumbai, India. The name Chembur is derived from the word “Chemburee” which means "Large Crab" in Marathi. Chembur is serviced by the Harbour Line of the Mumbai Suburban Railway.

Mumbai-Pune Highway passes through Chembur, thus making it an important transit point for people wanting to travel to Pune and living in eastern suburbs like Powai, Bhandup and Mulund. It is 22 km from downtown Mumbai and 20 km farther from Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport

Because of its proximity to garbage incinerators & big industries, it was once known as “Gas Chamber of Mumbai”. However, due to use of some techniques like scientific dumping, the pollution is on decline.

The Greater Chembur Area ranges from Thane creek in east to tansa pipeline-2 in west, from Somaiyya Nalla in north to Mahul Creek in south.

History

Prior to 1950, Chembur was an idle village. During those days, it used to be a favourite and proximate weekend picnic spot for the people from city.

Many parts of Chembur towards the north and east (present day Tilaknagar, Cheddanagar and Pestonsagar) were submerged by backwaters during high tide. The Beggars Home was set up by the government on the Ghatkopar-Mahul road near Chembur naka and the Home for Destitute Women on Sion Trombay road.

Chembur was not a part of the city until 1948-49 and later merged with the Bombay Municipal Corporation around 1949-50 and were from then it was called as the suburbs. Most of the social activity was around the Chembur naka, Station Avenue, Central Avenue, Chembur Camp. The PINCODE for Chembur was then “Bombay-38”.

The first BEST bus service was introduced around mid- fifties. The two refineries, the Atomic Energy Establishment (BARC as it was called then), the Rashtriya Chemicals & Fertilizers factory, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, the International Institute of Population Studies came up during 1954-60.

The construction by the Bombay Housing Board in Station Colony (Subash Nagar), the Shell Colony, and the Township Colony (Tilak Nagar) in 1955-58 transformed the area completely.

Administration

Chembur stretches across 2 municipal wards (Ward M (east) and ward M (west)). It used to lie in Mumbai North-east Parliamentary constituency. After delimitation, it has been shifted to Mahim parliamentary Constituency. Current Sitting MP of Mumbai North-east parliamentary constituency is Shri Gurudas kamat.

Demographics

The northern half of Chembur is residential and the southern half is industrial.

Old bungalows and villas in the northern half are making way for high-rise apartments. Like most of the suburbs in Mumbai, Chembur has a cosmopolitan population which is dominated by Maharashtrians, Sindhis and south Indian people.

Chembur has big colonies like Shell colony, Subhash nagar, RCF colony, Chembur colony and green spaces like Golfclub ground (big green spot ),Gandhi Maidan, Subhash nagar maidan, Annabhau Sathe garden, Diamond garden, Ambedkar udyan, Sandu garden.

Anushakti Nagar(staff quarters of Bhabha Atomic Research Center), lies just near the eastern boundary of Chembur. The Chembur Catholic Colony is one of the oldest establishments in the area located next to the Our Lady of Perpetual Succour High School and Church.

Shopping and Entertainment

There are various factory outlets of renowned brands such as Nike, Reebok, Adidas, Fila, Woodland, Flying Machine, The LOOT, etc. located on the Sion-Panvel highway near Atur park. The shops near Chembur station also provide good variety of clothes to the residents. Chembur has one of the best clubs - Acre's which has various recreational activities & sports and Chembur Gymkhana. Shoppers stop, near Tilaknagar, is one of the best multi-product stores in Chembur. Akbarally’s has one of their oldest stores near Chembur Naka.

Eateries

Jhama in Chembur Camp is very famous for its sweets. Also Sri Krishna, Satu's, Saroj, Ghasitaram, are also famous for its selected sweets. There are also outlets of food chains such Domino's, Smokin' Joes in Sion-Trombay Road.

Geeta Bhavan, Sadguru are the two well known old restaurants which are still patronized by all classes of people.High-end restaurants like Grand Central, Celebrations, Blend and Brew, Orchid etc have their presence in Chembur.

Cafe Coffee Day, Barista, Tastings, Naturals, are the well-know outlets for young people to hang out with friends.

=List of Famous People From Chembur

• Vithal Narayan Purao - Freedom Fighter
• Narayan Rane - Former Chief Minister of Maharashtra
• Abey Kuruvilla Ex-cricketer
• Shankar Mahadevan - Music Director/Playback Singer
• Anil Kapoor - Bollywood Actor
• Shilpa Shetty - Bollywood Actress
• Vidya Balan - Bollywood Actress
• Ayesha Takia- Bollywood Actress
• Ashok Kumar - Bollywood Actor
• Raj Kapoor and his family - Actor/Director/Producer
• Karsan Gavri- ex-Cricketer
• Balwinder Singh Sandhu - Ex-Cricketer
• Lalita Pawar –Yesteryear Actress.
• Nutan- Yesteryear Actress

Links for Help

• Chembur Community Site
• Emergency Numbers
• BEST public buses route search
• CST/Panvel Train timetable

Railway station

Chembur is an important railway station on The Mumbai Subarban Railway's Harbour line. It is the 13th Station from Mumbai CST and 18 kilometers by train.

See also

• Anushakti Nagar