Sunday, March 29, 2009

Sewri

Sewri is a suburb of Mumbai. It is also the name of a railway station on the Mumbai Suburban Railways.

Sewri (pronounced as Shivdi) was a small hamlet on the eastern shore of the Parel island, one of the original seven islands that formed Mumbai.


View-Sewri Fort
The Sewri Fort is a fort built by the British in Sewri in Mumbai(Bombay) in 1680 as a checkpost. Its ruins stand on a quarried hill on the east within 10 minutes walkable distance from the railway station. The fort was used to house prisoners. In 1769, Yadi Sakat of Janjira had conquered the Sewri and Mazagon Forts. It had a garrison of 50 sepoys under a subedar, and was probably equipped with 8-10 cannons. Its famous cannons had repelled Portuguese attack in 1772. The fort is currently owned by Maharashtra state's Department of Archaeology and Museums.
The large parts of Sewri belong to the Mumbai Port Trust and were incorporated into the harbour facilities. In 1996, the mangrove swamps of Sewri were declared a protected ecology. This mangroves and its surrounding areas attract lot of Flamingos from other parts of India for breeding purpose.
Flamingoes at the Sewri mud flats(sewri East)
These flamingoes arrive at the mudflats from the months of October to March every year. These mudflats are near sewri jetty which is around 20 mins walk from the station.
On coming out of the station towards the east end, there are a number of gusto industrial units especially of Petrochemical industries. On the west side, there are a number of well known housing societies like BDD Chawls, Dnyaneshwar Nagar, Shivaji Nagar, Gulmohar Society, Labour Camp and Bhatwadi. The market area is called "Sewri Naka". Since it is situated in central Mumbai, it is quite conveniently located and is at equal distance from both North Mumbai and South Mumbai.
In the recent years a lot of construction activity has been taking place in this area due to opening up of mill lands and the Mumbai Port Trust area. A trans-harbour link from Sewri to Nhava Sheva(Sewri-Nhava Sheva transharbour link) is due to come up at it.
The largest christian cemetery in Mumbai, Sewri Christian Cemetery is located here.
It is a quiet place and mostly populated by Hindus, Christians and Muslims.


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