The term Santa Cruz comes from the Portuguese words meaning Holy Cross. The name given to church is existed on the western side of the railway station, at the site presently occupied by the Sacred Heart Boys High School/Sacred Heart Church on Swami Vivekanand Road(It is an artier road on the west side of the western railway stations from Bandra to Borivali) and which had been devastated by the Marathas during their conquest of the region from Portugal. This former parish church gave its name to the locality.The church was constructed in the early 1930's. The parish has around 14,000 parishioners with Fr. Abel as the present parish priest.
Santa Cruz is bordered by Vile Parle in north, Khar in south, Juhu beach in west and Kurla in east. It is broadly divided in two areas: Santa Cruz (East) and Santa Cruz (West) by the Mumbai Suburban Railways line. The Milan subway and Khar subway connect the two areas passing under the rail line.
Santa Cruz(East)
It consists of Prabhat Colony, Kalina and Vakola. It also consists of land belonging Airport Authority of India which consists of the Mumbai Airport and Air India Colony (which comes in Kalina).
The main roads passing through Santa Cruz(East) are the Westrn Express Highway, Nehru Road and the Kalina-Kurla Link Road. The PIN code of this area is 400055.
Prabhat Colony
Prabhat colony is the residential area closest to Santa Cruz(E) station. The landmarks in this area include The Yoga Institute, the Reliance Energy (formerly BSES) office, Reverend C. F. Andrews High school, Municipal school and Municipal office.
Vakola
Vakola starts from Westrn Express Highway which connects Mumbai's Town and suburbs, up to the Military Camp. It is a densely populated region with considerable number of Hindus, Muslims, Catholics and Jains. Vakola Bridge, Vakola Pipeline, and Vakola Masjid areas form most of Vakola.
Vakola also consists of Anand Nagar, the row houses in the locality and the growing commercial value of the society has turned it into the feature attraction of Vakola, undoubedtly the poshest area of Vakola.
Vakola is predominantly a middle class neighbourhood, although the property prices have been on a very steep upward trend in the last couple of years. Vakola has 2 good schools, St Anthony's (Boys) and St. Charles (Girls). Also, Vakola has most of the Top banks doing business, Canara Bank, Citi Bank, ICICI Bank.
The road stretched from the Westrn Express Highway to the Military Camp is called Nehru Road.
Kalina
Kalina starts from the Military Camp and stretches east up to the suburb of Kurla. It is a cosmopolitan area comprising of a number of schools, colleges and the Kalina Campus of the University of Mumbai and the Govt College of Pharmacy.
Kalina houses major large apartment complexes belonging to two major Government owned airlines, i.e., Air-India and Indian Airlines. Sunder Nagar is another large residential area, consisting of many row houses.
Kalina is midway between two suburban stations Kurla and Santa Cruz railway stations which are on the Central and Western Railway Lines respectively. It is also close to the Bandra-Kurla Complex and only 15 minutes from the domestic terminals of the Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport.
Kalina has been experiencing high growth over the past few years. The proposed Mumbai Police Headquarters will be in Kalina. The Santa Cruz-Chembur Flyover will run through Kalina as part of the Mumbai Urban Transportation Project. Kalina is also an emerging hub for commercial real estate with big names such as Microsoft and Rolls Royce (Marine Engines) setting up shop there, in addition to five star hotels such as The Grand Hyatt, Kalina.
The Santacruz(West)
Sacred Heart Boys High School
Santa Cruz (West) is strikingly more affluent than the eastern part of the suburb. It is bordered by Khar Juhu, and Vile Parle.
It is primarily a residential area, with the market situated near the railway station. The residential colonies include such as Amar Subway Society, the Reserve Bank of India Quarters, Vithaldas Nagar Colony, Rizvi Park, Bansraj Singh Estate, Khotwadi, Bhimwada, T.P.S. 6th Residential colony Ramas Plaza and Khira Nagar, Shastri Nagar,Main Avenue,Convent Avenue,St. Joseph's Avenue,St. Francis Avenue & Chruch Avenue. In the past most of the residences used to be small bungalows, which are now being replaced by high rise buildings.
The main roads in Santa Cruz(W) are Swami Vivekanand Road, Juhu Road, Juhu Tara Road and Linking Road (Vithhalbhai Patel Marg).
Government Institutions
Santacruz (West) Post Office : Located on Linking Road, adjacent to St. Lawrence High School.
Vakola Post Office
Kalina Post Office : Located on Vidyanagri Road, outside the University of Mumbai Campus
Air-India Post Office : Located in Air-India Colony
Santacruz East Post Office: Located next to the overhead Pedestrian Bridge of the Santacruz train station
Kalina Police Staion
Santacruz (W) Police Station : Located on the intersection of Juhu Road and Linking Road, opposite Lion's Park.
Vakola Police Station: Located at the intersection of Nehru Road and the Western Express Highway, on the Vakola side of the flyover
Miscellaneous
BEST (external link to its website) Bus Depot, Santacruz (West): Located on Swami Vivekanand Road near Milan Subway (after the intersection of Juhu Road and Swami Vivekanand Road).
BEST Bus Station, Santacruz (East): Located near the station, in Santacruz (East).
MTNL Office: Located inside the BSNL Campus on Juhu Road
Military Camp: Located in Vakola - Air defence unit for Mumbai airport.
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