Girgaon Chowpatty

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Girgaon Chowpatty
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Settlement type	Neighbourhood
Country	India
State
District
Subdivision

File:The Chowpattee of Former Days, Bombay (9142699685).jpg

Chowpatty in 1860s

Girgaon Chowpatty (IAST: Giragāva Chaupāṭī), is a public beach along the Queen’s Necklace adjoining Marine Drive in the Girgaon area of Mumbai, India. It is served by the Charni Road railway station. The beach is noted for its Ganesh Visarjan celebrations when thousands of people from all over Mumbai and Pune come to immerse the idols of Lord Ganesh in the Arabian Sea. It is also one of the many places in the city where the 'Ram Leela' play is performed onstage every year. An effigy of Ravan erected on the sand is burnt at the end of the 10-day performance.

On the road running along the beach, the lone surviving terrorist of the 26/11 attacks, Ajmal Kasab, was caught and arrested. A bronze bust of Tukaram Omble, the policeman who helped to arrest Kasab, was erected on 26Template:NbspNovember 2009.

Etymology

Chowpatty is an Anglicised form of Chau-pati (four channels or four creeks in Marathi) as per (Bombay City Gazetteer, I. 27). This name is analogous to that of Satpaty, a village in the Mahim Taluka of the Thane District, which is approached through a Channel or Creek, containing seven divisions of water.

Pollution

The water surrounding the beach is heavily polluted, and swimming should be avoided. Fecal coliform was recorded in the water in 2013 at levels of 1455 per 100 mL, far above the acceptable standard of 500 per 100 mL. The presence of fecal coliform in the water has been attributed to waste from storm drains, open defecation, and the discharge of raw sewage from sewer pipes not connected to the city mains.^[1]

On 30 August 2016, the sand on the beach is said to be turning black due to a possible oil slick in the area. The specific cause of the blackening is unknown.^[2]