Worli

View:- Worli sea face and construction of the bridge connecting Bandra and Worli

Worli was one of the original seven islands that constituted the city of Mumbai. It is primarily a fishermen's village.

The Worli Fort

The Worli Fort, a British fort, is located there. It also has the Haji Ali Dargah, on a rock in the sea, which was connected at low-tide to the island by a natural causeway. The island of Worli was connected to the main island of Bombay in 1784 with the completion of the Hornby Vellard. In 1842, the Love Grove sewage pumping station was completed. It has special sluice gates opening to the sea, which are opened during periods of low tide.
Worli is a part of South Bombay which extends from Haji Ali to Prabhadevi. It is bounded by the Arabian Sea to the west and the neighbourhoods of Haji Ali, Mahalaxmi, Prabhadevi to the north.The nearest railway station to the neighborhood is Mahalaxmi. It has housed the biggest chawls known as BDD chawls which are prone to riots. Now a days even the area of Lower Parel is referred to as Upper Worli due to a massive construction boom in the area.
Some of the most exclusive residential buildings in Bombay are in Worli, such as the towering Samudra Mahal and the 20-storey Eden Hall Apartments or the 12-storey Urmi. The seaface near Worli also has a number of extremely exclusive and prestigious residential addresses such as Benzer Apartments, Benreeza Apartments, Urmi, Nishika and Godrej Apartments.
Worli was one of the Mill lands of Old Bombay, and now these mills are converted into posh offices such as Ceejay Towers and malls such as Atria. Worli has the Mahalaxmi Racecourse known as The Royal Western Turf Club of India, The Wellington Golf Course, Nehru Planetaurium, Nehru Centre, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Stadium and Haji Ali dargah as main landmarks.
A link road between Bandra and Worli to mobilise traffic is presently under construction.

Fort

View:- New Fort area

In 1769 Fort George was built on the site of the Dongri Fort. In 1772 an order was promulgated to segregate Indian and English houses, both within and outside the Fort.The fort walls had three main gates. One was the Apollo Gate near the present day location of the St. Andrew's Church. The most well-known was Churchgate named after St. Thomas standing almost exactly on the spot that the Flora Foutain now occupies. The third was the Bazaar Gate right opposite the present dome of the General Post Office (GPO) which lends its name to the area even now long after the gate itself has disappeared. A British town ship grew up inside the fort walls. A few wealthy Indian merchants were allowed to build houses inside the fort. Businesses moved into the Fort area displacing residents. With control assured over India, the fort walls were torn down, and the area was converted into the central district of Bombay city. More of Bombay's landmarks were built in this and adjoining areas. Many of the landmarks date from this period-University of Mumbai, Flora Foutain, Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus, Muncipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai building .

Colaba

View:- Colaba and military cotonment

Gerald Aungier took possession of Colaba and Old Woman's Island in 1675. However, the development of these areas took a long time. In 1743 Colaba was leased to a Richard Broughton at Rs. 200 per annum. The lease was renewed in 1764. In 1796, Colaba became a cantonment for the military troops. The meteorological observatory was established in 1826 at the southern end of the island which is called Upper Colaba. Colaba became a centre of commerce with the opening of the Cotton Exchange at Cotton Green in 1844. Work on the church of St. John the Evangelist was begun in 1847. The church is now known as the Afghan Church (after the First Afghan War of 1838) was consecrated in 1858 and concluded in 1865.
Transport to this end of the new town was revolutionised by the introduction of horse-drawn tram-cars in 1873 by Stearns and Kitteredge. They had their offices on the west side of the Causeway where the B.E.S.T. Electric House stands today.
The Prong's lighthouse at the southern tip of the island was constructed in 1875. In the same year, the Sassoon Docks were built by David Sassoon on reclaimed land. The BB&CI Railways established their terminus in Colaba. These developments pushed the indigenous kolis (fishermen) to the edges of the island near the Sassoon Docks and to the west. The 90,000 square yards of land were reclaimed on the western shore of Colaba.