Islands
There are six islands in the Mumbai Harbor.
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.
Elephanta Island, also known as Gharapuri Island, is the best known of the islands in Mumbai Harbor. 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 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 harbor.
Oyster Rock is a small group of rock outcroppings in the harbor. 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.
Read more about this topic: Mumbai Harbour
Famous quotes containing the word islands:
“The problem of the twentieth century is the problem of the color-line—the relation of the darker to the lighter races of men in Asia and Africa, in America and the islands of the sea. It was a phase of this problem that caused the Civil War.”
—W.E.B. (William Edward Burghardt)
“Consider the islands bearing the names of all the saints, bristling with forts like chestnut-burs, or Echinidæ, yet the police will not let a couple of Irishmen have a private sparring- match on one of them, as it is a government monopoly; all the great seaports are in a boxing attitude, and you must sail prudently between two tiers of stony knuckles before you come to feel the warmth of their breasts.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)