Dadar

Dadar is a densely populated residential and shopping neighbourhood in midtownMumbai'and a prominent transit hub with local and national connectivity.HistoryEtymologyDadar in Marathi language means 'Ladder', perhaps indicative of its importance as an important connection between main Mumbai island and surrounding islands in the past.OriginsIn the 16th century, the area was known as lower Mahim as it was located on the island of Mahim, one of the Seven islands of Mumbai which, after Mumbai Island proper, was the most important during the whole of the Portuguese period. The Portuguese Franciscans built a church here in 1596 called Nossa Senhora de Salvação, which is popularly known today as Portuguese Church and is a familiar Dadar landmark.19th and 20th centuryThe Dadar-Matunga-Wadala-Sion scheme of 1899-1900 was the first planned scheme in Mumbai. The Bombay Improvement Trust devised the plan to relieve congestion in the centre of the town following the plague epidemics of the 1890s. According to the survey plan, 60,000 people were to be housed at Dadar-Matunga and an equal number in Sion-Matunga. 85,000 people were to be accommodated in the developments in Sewri-Wadala.Among the institutions moved to Dadar under the City Improvement Trust (CIT) plan were Victoria Jubilee Technical Institute, now known as Veermata Jijabai Technological Institute and King George school, now known as IES' Raja Shivaji Vidyalaya (now a collection of several schools). The plan regulated constructions and restricted building construction to three storeys high with an open spaces between them.