The City of Dreams - MUMBAI | Overview | Weather | Airport | Bollywood | Ganpati Visarjan | Places to Visit | Street Food

Overview

Mumbai, also called the 'City of Dreams' and previously known as 'Bombay' till 1995 is the most populous city of India with a whooping 20 million people in the whole Mumbai Metropolitan Region. In 2008, Mumbai was declared a Alpha World City and also is home to not one but three UNESCO World Heritage Sites, the Elephanta Caves, Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus, and the city's distinctive ensemble of Victorian and Art Deco buildings. Mumbai is also the host of India's greatest festival, the ganesh chaturthi follwed by ganesh visarjan.
Mumbai is the financial, commercial and entertainment capital of India. One of the world's top ten centres of commerce in terms of global financial flow and has a contribution of 6.16 % in India's total GDP. Mumbai has the house of Asia's Richest Man, Mr. Mukesh Ambani and houses the headquarters of major financial and scientific & nuclear institutions. Also is the home of the world famous film industry 'Bollywood' and others like Marathi film industry.

Weather 

Mumbai is on the cost of the Arabian Sea and hence has a tropical climate with 'Tropical Wet and Dry Climate' which means that Mumbai has 7 months of dryness and has a very harsh monsoon. Heavy Rails and floodings is a common occurrence for all Mumbaikars and they are now well equipped for it. 
The temperature varies from season to season - 

1. Summers - From March to June is between 22 - 32 degrees and are humid with temperature max up-to 35 degrees.

2. Winters - The temperature when cold drops to 16 - 26 degrees and the coldest day ever recorded in history was 7 degrees in 1962.

The annual precipitation of the mega-city of the west averages around 80 inches.

Air pollution is the most major issue of Mumbai. In 2006, WTO indicated that the annual average PM2.5 concentration in 2013 was 63 μg/m3, which was 6.3 times higher than the prescribed levels.

Public Transportation

The intercity transportation of the mega-city is mainly done partially through the old ways and partially modern ways.

Mumbai's list includes - 

1. The Local Railways - It is the backbone of the city's transportation. The system carries more than 6 million passengers everyday. The nine car train whose actual capacity is 1700 passengers actually carries 4500 people during rush hours. 

2. BEST Busses - The classic buss service carries 5.5 million passengers each day and covers almost all of Mumbai on wheels. Having a fleet of 4608 busses, the busses are in single-decker, double-decker, vestibule, low-floor, disabled-friendly, air-conditioned and Euro III compliant diesel and compressed natural gas powered bus variants. 

3. Metro and Monorail - One of the most advance transportation systems of India. But to state the truth they were just initiated to relax the burden on the main railway system. 

4. The Heritage Black and Yellow Taxis - 56459 is the number of these classic taxis which still curze around Mumbai's 1900 kilometres  of road network.

For overseas and flying solutions Mumbai is equipped with 1 commercial and 1 private aviation airports. The Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport is one of India's finest and most efficient airports who has the track record of handling 36.6 million passengers in the year 2015-16. Also another commercial airport has been proposed to reduce the burden from the current airport.

Places to Visit

This vast stretch of densely populated land has everything from historic monuments, photo points to examples of world class architecture. 

This is my list of 5 places you should visit primarily when in Mumbai. A google search is also preferred when you want to explore more.

1. Gateway of India - Indo-Saracenic triumphal arch on the banks of the Arabian sea.

2. Haji Ali Dargah - A pilgrimage site which attracts every religion and what makes it even interesting is the fact that it is on a island which is accessible on foot.

3. Bandra Worli Sea-link - A gift to your eyes is the view of the Mumbai skyline from the cable-held bridge in Mumbai. 

4. Juhu Beach - Take a walk on the Juhu beach and relax with different authentic street food options topped with the views of the Arabian Sea. 

5. Hanging Gardens -  Lush green park on a hill top ideal for views and paradise for flower lovers.

Food

Unlike my other posts where the cuisine is limited to 5 picks, Mumbai has a large list of street food which you should must try.

Here is my list and it will be updated overtime - 

1. Vada Pav 

2. Ragda Pattis 

3. Batata Vada

4. Bhel Puri and Sev Puri 

5.  Misal Pav 

6.  Pav Bhaji 

7. Baida Roti 

8. Bombay Famous Sandwhich 

9. Akuri on Toast 

10. Kanda Poha

There are many other dishes which I will add in the list soon.

Here is a video on Mumbai by Q Live India.
 

Please also check my other articles with the following links -
Kolkata : https://indcities.blogspot.com/2019/09/the-city-of-joy-kolkata-overview.html
Hyderabad : https://indcities.blogspot.com/2019/09/the-city-of-nawabs-hyderabad-overview.html
Delhi : https://indcities.blogspot.com/2019/09/the-capital-city-delhi-overview-weather.html
Bangalore : https://indcities.blogspot.com/2019/09/the-silicon-valley-of-india-bangalore.html

Reference - 
Image No. 1 - https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn%3AANd9GcQFXFnx7a0hsT_2XMu8SwkZuHhpD2PfiR7R-qPDXFKBbCboXf7V
Image No. 2 - https://icon-library.net/icon/weather-icon-png-26.html
Image No. 3 - https://www.pinclipart.com/downpngs/iibboho_transport-png-free-download-modes-of-transport-png/
Image No. 4 - https://www.shutterstock.com/image-vector/mumbai-india-gate-taj-mahal-hotel-570929050 
Image No. 5 - https://www.clipartwiki.com/iclipmax/xbTmbT/