15 Lesser Known Facts About Mumbai City

Mumbai is among the most popular nerve centers of India, a business and entertainment capital, the bustling city of dreams! The city means very different things to different people, home to over 12 million people, here are some very interesting yet lesser know facts about Mumbai that you should read!

1. Mumbai has only 1.1 square meters of open space per person.


Either way, that’s less per person than in New York, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Mexico City and, yes, even Tokyo, making Mumbai not only one of the densest, but also the most cramped city in the world.(It’s not the same)

2. Mumbai has a coastline of over 149 kilometers.

It may not look true but with its oceanfront beaches, stunning black rock outcrops leafy mangroves, wetlands, rivers and creeks, Mumbai surely has a long shoreline.

3.The name Mumbai was derived from Mumba Devi and Bombay from…

From Bom Bahia, literally meaning ‘The Good Bay’. Bombay was actually named by Portuguese explorer Francis Almeida. The present day name ‘Mumbai’ is named after goddess Mumba devi of the Koli community.

4. Mumbai initiated the first of many amenities in the whole of India.
 

The Juhu Aerodrome was the first airport of India, the Taj Mahal Hotel, founded in 1903, is India’s first 5 star hotel and the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (CST) railway station is the first railway station in India.

5.The Dabbahwallahs’ century-old delivery system is recognised as one of the best managed supply chains in the world.

Forbes magazine awarded the dabbawalah network with its highest rating, Sigma Six—a rating that is shared with corporate giants like General Electric and Motorola, it signifies less than one error per one million transactions.

6. India’s first—and now most outdated—electric rail system.

Instead of receiving electricity from a third rail, Mumbai is powered by miles of wire that run above the tracks, carrying electricity through a complex network of substations. This DC system was installed far back in 1925.

7. ‘Super Dense Crush Load’- A official term to describe what happens during rush hour in Mumbai.


Mumbai trains were built to hold 1700 passengers, but they often carry three times that number, leading to such notorious crowding that railways have given peak hours a special name: the ‘Super Dense Crush Load’

8.Central Park – Khargar (Navi Mumbai is the largest park in Asia and the third largest in the world)

The park has more than 35,000 sq.mt. of green area, and more than 26,000 sq.mt. space for the children’s play area. On entering the park, the first thing that catches the eye is a grassy green hill side. At first glance, it looks like the edge of a water holding pond or an artificial lake, but that is not the case. It’s the outer periphery of a very large open air amphitheatre.

9. India’s largest and only international standard theme park, Adlabs Imagica, is in Khopoli near Mumbai.

10. ‘Bombay’ is actually a set of 7 islands.

The erstwhile ‘Bombay’, which is actually a set of seven islands, was not part of the British Empire but was given as dowry by the Portuguese when Princess Braganza married Charles II of England. It took 60 years to merge the seven islands of Bombay into one landmass between 1784 and 1845.

11. Mumbai doesn’t just have the largest slum in Asia but the most expensive one.

Mumbai doesn’t just have the largest slum in Asia, but probably the most expensive one also. To build a house in Dharavi could cost more than a whooping three lakhs!
12. The names of places in Mumbai are mostly very ironic!

The Churchgate railway station in Mumbai neither has a gate nor a church. Other places that have ironic names are ; Victoria Terminus – where Queen Victoria never resided, Mahalaxmi Temple – located in Haji Ali, Lohaar Chawl – has no iron-smiths in the vicinity, Breach Candy – where there is a hospital but no candies, Bhendi Bazaar area – that has nothing to do with bhindis (okra)!
13. Mumbai Police’s elite commando force, which is a specialised counter terrorism unit to guard the Mumbai metropolitan area, is called Force One.

Ajmal Kasab, who killed more than 50 people in the heinous 26/11 attacks in Mumbai has a case registered by the Mumbai police for entering CST station without a ticket.

 14. Many famous writers of the world born in Mumbai.

Nobel Laureate Rudyard Kipling who wrote Kim and The Jungle Book was born in Mumbai. Even Gregory David Roberts and Salman Rushdie are Mumbaikars.15. The letter ‘B’ in 

 Bollywood is derived from the city’s old name Bombay.

Bollywood is one of the largest film producers in India and one of the largest centers of film production in the world. In reality, the Hindi Film cinema is the core of Bollywood.

So, what are the lesser known facts you know about your city?

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