The seven islands of Bombay when they originally came in the hands of the British from the Portuguese, included Colaba, Old Women’s Island, Bombay, Mazgoan, Parel-Sewree-sion, Mahim and Worli. They were then separated by narrow creeks which could be crossed over during low tide. Therefore, between 1784 and 1845 four raised causeways were constructed which welded together these disjoined islands.

The seven islands of Bombay were an archipelago of islands that were, over a span of five centuries, connected to form the area of the modern city of Mumbai. The seven islands were gradually physically united through land reclamation projects. The original archipelago was composed of the following islands:

1.Isle of Bombay,
2.Colaba
3.Old Woman’s Island (Little Colaba)
4.Mahim
5.Mazagaon
6.Parel
6.Worli

It took over 150 years to join the original seven islands of Mumbai. These seven islands were lush green thickly wooded, and dotted with 22 hills, with the Arabian Sea washing through them at high tide.
The original island of Mumbai was only 24 km long and 4 km wide from Dongri to Malabar Hill (at its broadest point) and the other six were Colaba, Old Woman’s island, Mahim, Parel, Worli, Mazgaon.

Reclamation:

i) First Phase of Reclamation:

Surat administration ordered to undertake reclamations as early as 1698; factory records relate small beginnings, but major works were not begun until 1710, when the breaches in the north were closed to the tidal waters of Mahim bay and Creek, to be followed by the closing of the breaches between Worli and Mahim, and still later the Hornby Vellard.

Map of Port and Island of Bombay with the adjacent islands, 1724 ..................................................................................................................................
1. Hornby Vellard (1784) at Mahalaxmi united Cumballa Hill with Worli;

WALES, James (1747-1795) View of the Breach Causeway

Used with permission from the Peter Anker Collection held in the Kulturhistorisk Museum at the University of Oslo, Norway.

Plate 5: View of the Breach Causeway.

The Breach Causeway at Mahalaxmi provides a picture of rural tranquillity set beside a flat sandy beach and a circle of calm water amidst the necklace of tidal islands that formed Bombay in the late C18th. The reclamation of the tidal flats would consolidate the area into unified whole in the C19th, but at the time of Wales' rendering of the scene there is a sense of idyllic simplicity.
In the immediate foreground, on the left of the picture, a massive Indian banyan tree rises to frame the picture and provides a commanding reference point. At the right edge of the picture there is a procession of small Indian and English figures moving along the road. In the foreground are three examples of local methods of transportation: a palanquin, a 'Bengal chair', and a myanna (or small litter suspended from a bamboo pole). The palanquin is being carried towards a long causeway at the centre of the picture. Among the dwellings, adjoining the village well and small sandy beach, Indian figures can be seen moving about their daily tasks. A man on horseback is riding towards the causeway.
Two canopied carriages, one of which is horsedrawn, can be seen moving along the roadway embankment. One is heading along Parel Road towards the ancient Mahalakshmi temple, a Hindu and Parsi shrine well known to the inhabitants of the Bombay islands, but not shown in Wales' landscape. The other carriage drawn by two bullocks and is approaching the village to the right of the picture. A small boat in a circle of calm water provides an offset focus to the centre of the image, while beyond, under a pale blue sky, the north-eastern horizon is punctured by the outline of the distant mountains.
This causeway or vellard, north of Cumballa Hill, was commenced in 1782 and completed in 1784 and became known as the Hornby's Vellard. It was one of the first major engineering projects aimed at transforming the original seven islands of Bombay into a single island with a deep natural harbour. The project was started by William Hornby (d.1803) during his governorship of Bombay from 1771-1784. The initiative was carried out against the wishes of the Directors of the Honourable East India Company (HEIC), but to great acclaim by the local inhabitants as it transformed the geography of the islands by opening up the marshy areas of Mahalaxmi and Kamathipura for habitation.
The primary purpose of the causeway was to block the Worli creek and prevent the low-lying areas of Bombay from being flooded by the sea. The causeway formed a crucial connection between north and south Bombay, thereby consolidating the central portion of the island thereby uniting the land north between Mahim and West Parel with the area south of Worli which was normally flooded at high tide.
The word vellard appears to be a local corruption of the Portuguese word vallado meaning 'barrier' or 'embankment'. All the Bombay islands were finally linked by 1838.
.............................................................................................................
2.    Duncan Causeway (1803) joined Sion with Kurla (Salsette);
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3.    Colaba Causeway linked Bombay with the two Colaba islands;
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4.    Mahim Causeway (1845) joined Mahim with Bandra.
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[Gallery: India]

James Wales (1747-1795) was a noted Scottish portrait painter and draughtsman. He was a contemporary of Lachlan Macquarie in Bombay in the last decade of the C18th.
In the period between Wales' arrival in Bombay in July 1791 and his tragic death in November 1795 he executed a number of important and evocative views of the settlement and its environs.

View from Malabar Hill	View of Breach from Love Grove.
View of Breach Causeway	View From Belmont.
View From Belmont.	View from Sion Fort.
View from Sion Fort.	View from Island of Elephanta.
1 \| 2 \| 3 \| 4 \| ...................................................................................................

ii)     Second Phase of Reclamation:

This phase consisted of all the smaller reclamations taken place within the city. It was executing the smaller schemes and strengthening of the island from within. It was the implementation of smaller plans of schemes like Nagpada scheme, Frere Estate, Mody bay Estate, Ballard Estate etc.


iii)    Third Phase of reclamation:

The 3rd phase of Reclamations was the most controversial of the projects, the one launched by the Back Bay Reclamation Company which came into being in 1863. Fortunately, before the company came to an abrupt end it had reclaimed a precious strip of land west of Queens   Road (Maharishi   Karve Road). Later, the Public Works Department stepped in, committees and schemes proliferated, feeding on and in turn fed by controversy.

Areas in Mumbai island liable for inundation by sea rise

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Seawater sweeps the streets of Mumbai - News

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Sources close to Thackeray said that he personally spoke to the officer, while he was on a road visit in Dadar and Mahim area and spotted the road outside

Seawater sweeps the streets of Mumbai-reminiscent of the monsoons, but on a bright sunny day!

By Neha LM Tripathi & Kartikeya Jain |Posted 13-Jun-2014

Areas near Marine Drive, Worli, Shivaji Park faced waterlogging following high tide and strong winds; Disaster Management Cell will deploy guards at sea-facing areas from today

Even with no sign of rain, many of the city’s streets were flooded yesterday, due to high tide that brought seawater on some of Mumbai’s prominent sea-facing roads like those near Marine Drive, Worli Sea Face, Shivaji Park and Bandstand.
PHOTOS: High tide causes water-logging in parts of Mumbai

The waste from the sea was thrown onto Marine Drive yesterday, as a high tide of 4.56 metres, combined with strong winds, meant the city saw scenes reminiscent of the monsoons, but on a bright sunny day! Pics/Emmanual Karbhari & Datta Kumbhar
While some citizens enjoyed the flooding because it brought relief from the heat, waterlogging on these roads began affecting traffic soon. An official from the disaster management cell said, “The situation resulted from a combination of the high tide and the cyclone that touched Mumbai’s shore on the southwest.”

The flooded Cadell Road in Shivaji Park
The people affected by the high tide also included MNS chief Raj Thackeray, who reportedly called BMC’s Disaster Management officer, after water seeped on the road that leads to his house Krishna Kunj in Shivaji Park.

Sources close to Thackeray said that he personally spoke to the officer, while he was on a road visit in Dadar and Mahim area and spotted the road outside his house filled with water. While traffic snarls affected the movement of vehicles, the civic body claims that it was cleared within half an hour.

Mumbaikars flocked to Marine Drive during the high tide; the stretch of Marine Drive near Girgaum Chowpatty was also flooded
A traffic constable said, “The waterlogging led to traffic jam in Mahim, Dadar and Worli, but we cleared it within half an hour.” Garbage on the streets had choked the water exits and had to be cleared by BMC workers before water could find its way back into the sea.
Speaking to mid-day, V K Rajeev, director of Indian Metrological Department said, “While monsoons are not expected to reach Mumbai till the end of the week, if it rains during high tide, it may create trouble.” The predicted high tide of 4.60 meters for Friday is expected to be one of the highest in the upcoming monsoon season.
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Almost every day, we are collecting eight to 10 truck loads of garbage just from the Marine Drive area,“ said M S Ghadge chief engineer of the BMC's solid waste management department.

Major flooding at Shivaji Park

Friday, June 13, 2014

By Junisha Dama

Shivaji Park witnessed major flooding on Thursday between 11:15 am and 2:45 pm as a high tide caused the sea levels to rise and enter residential buildings in the vicinity from Dadar Chowpatty.

Sea water even entered vehicles parked in the neighbourhood. Residents were forced to wade through knee-deep water as the situation was unexpected and there was no prior warning given by authorities. The water entering several buildings brought along a lot of garbage and waste material which clogged the gutters and rendered roads unusable.

“Every year during Sharad Poornima, we face this problem where the water floods Veer Savarkar Road and enters into streets as well,” said Ganesh Tamhandkar, manager at a local poultry. The two and a half hour long flooding caused traffic to move slower than usual, and many vehicles broke down and had to be pushed out of the water. “Our employees at the poultry readily helped pedestrians and residents. This is the time when mothers usually pick up their children from pre-school. We helped them move about and cross the road as the water level was knee-deep. Our drivers also helped move cars. Two-wheelers passing by faced trouble too. We helped as much as we could,” said Tamhandkar.

Niranjan Engineer, a resident of the area who lives adjacent to the beach, said, “Thankfully, we haven’t faced any damage except for the waves leaping over the building wall. A few years ago, we had a 4 metre high wave which had broken the wall of a park nearby.”

The tide is expected to rise to higher levels over the next two days and is likely to cause chaos in the neighbourhood around afternoon. “We are taking as many precautionary measures as possible. Our immediate step is to clean up the garbage brought in by the sea and ensure that the rocks are moved to pose as boulders over the next two days. We don’t think it will stop the water from flooding, but it will serve the purpose of reducing the intensity of water and hopefully there will not be water coming across the main road,” said officials of Maharashtra Maritime Board (MMB).