Mumbai Harbour

Bombay harbour 1626

The harbour east of the city

Two American Cargo ships docked at Bombay Harbour, 1948.

There are six islands in the Mumbai Harbour.[1]

Butcher Island, also known as Jawahar Dweep, is used as an oil terminal by the Mumbai Port. It has jetties for tankers and various other infrastructure for offloading crude oil and for loading refined petroleum products. The island is restricted to port employees, and not open to the public.

Cross Island is a small, uninhabited islet just off the coast of the Dockyard Road. Though the remains of old fortifications are visible, the island itself is restricted to the public.

Gharapuri Island, also known as Elephanta Island, is the best known of the islands in Mumbai Harbour. The Elephanta Caves located on the island are a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The group of five larger caves have intricate Hindu religious rock sculptures. Two smaller caves have Buddhist religious sculptures. The carvings date back to between 5th and 8th centuries.

Middle Ground Coastal Battery is a small islet in the Thane creek. It features an antique coastal gun battery of the Indian Navy. The guns salute Indian naval vessels returning from deployments when they enter the harbour.

Oyster Rock is a small group of rock outcroppings in the harbour. The area has restricted access since it is used for naval exercises.

Salsette Island is the large island on which the cities of Mumbai and Thane are located. It is separated from the Konkan mainland by the Vasai creek and the Ulhas river. Mumbai was originally a distinct island from Thane, but reclamation of land has long since merged the islands. Powai Lake, Tulsi Lake and Vihar Lake are the largest lakes on the island.

Mumbai Port (MbPT) lies midway (18°56.3′N 72°45.9′E) on the western shore of Mumbai Harbour.[2] The port was the pre-eminent commercial port of India in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. It is known as the gateway to India, and has been a primary factor in the emergence of Mumbai as the commercial capital of India.

Mangrove swamps line much of the northwestern and eastern shores of the harbour, and provide a rich habitat for wildlife, including thousands of migrating birds such as flamingoes.

Due to immense population pressures from the Mumbai metropolitan region and the extremely busy maritime trade, the Harbour is considered to be heavily polluted.

This includes reports of heavy metals flux found in the creeks adjacent to the harbour with the harbour acting as a sink for most of the pollutants.[3]

The abundance of fish in this area is recorded in a painting by Clarkson Frederick Stanfield of Bombay Harbour—Fishing Boats in the Monsoon., engraved by Edward Goodall and with a poetical illustration by Letitia Elizabeth Landon.

• Sunk Rock Lighthouse

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Mumbai Harbour.

• Mumbai Port Trust