Anushakti Nagar
Anushakti Nagar is the residential township of the Bhabha Atomic Research Center, Nuclear Power Corporation of India, Directorate of Construction Services and Estate Management, Atomic Energy Education Society in Mumbai, Maharashtra, India. Anu Shakti means atomic power in Sanskrit. Spread over more than 940 acres, this residential complex for the employees of Department of Atomic Energy of the Government of India in Mumbai, is situated in North-east Mumbai. Anushakti Nagar claims to be the largest scientific community (in a single area) in the world. It has the largest central library in the continent in Nuclear science and technology.
Anushakti Nagar अणुशक्ती नगर | |
|---|---|
Suburb | |
  Anushakti Nagar Anushakti Nagar | |
| Coordinates: 19°2′11″N 72°55′21″E | |
| Country | India |
| State | Maharashtra |
| District | Mumbai Suburban |
| City | Mumbai |
| Government | |
| • Type | Municipal Corporation |
| • Body | Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (MCGM) |
| Languages | |
| • Official | Marathi |
| Time zone | UTC+5:30 (IST) |
| PIN | 400094[1] |
| Area code(s) | 022 |
| Vehicle registration | MH 03 |
| Civic agency | BMC |
About
In the early 1960s the government decided to expand the nuclear research (see BARC) facility in (what was then) a distant suburb of Mumbai. The township is about 3 km north of the research centre.
Anushakti Nagar is a well planned self-contained community with a population of about 45,000. It has residential flats, local grocery shops, sports and recreation facilities, schools, medical clinics, a large hospital, banks, post office and transport links to many parts of Mumbai. Both the atomic research centre and the town maintenance is funded by the central (federal) government. The complex is sprawling and lies stretched out alongside four suburbs - Govandi, Mankhurd, New Mandala and Trombay. The other facilities include two Community Centres for social occasions and gatherings, various departmental and co-operative stores, 2 restaurants and 2 creches. The electricity to the colony is provided by TATA Power and the cable (and more recently, cablenet) by ANUSAT club. For the benefits of residents, Janta Seva serves an exclusive shopping cart.
Anushakti Nagar has 17 high-rises and numerous buildings, that have grades, depending on flat-size, and are allotted on the basis of seniority to DAE employees. The nomenclature of these buildings is unique and one of the best aspects, with names taken from - Indian Heritage names (Nalanda, Hastinapur, Pataliputra, Indraprastha, Takshashila, Kapilvastu)
Rivers (Sindhu, Saraswati, Godavari, Narmada, Saryu, Alaknanda, Bhagirathi, Ghaghra, Gomti, Ganga, Yamuna etc.)
Himalayan peaks (Kamet, Annapurna, Kanchenjunga, Dhawalgiri, Nandadevi {Nanda Devi}, Gaurishankar {Gauri Sankar}, Everest, Kamet etc.)
Hill-stations (Venkatgiri, Almora, Gulmarg, Mount Abu, Mussoorie etc.), Hill-ranges (Sahyadri, Vindhya, Satpura, Aravalli, Nilgiri etc.)
Historical Places (Sanchi, Ajanta, Ellora, Shantiniketan, Sriniketan, Golconda etc.)
famous Hindu Pilgrim Places (Kailash, Badrinath, Kedarnath, Dwarka, Sarnath etc.)
Great Saints (Meera, Namdev, Jaidev, Ramdas, Tulsidas, Kabir, Tukaram, Chaitanya etc.),
Classical Ragas (the Raagmala buildings - Mohana, Deepak, Malhar, Darbari, Ranjani, Lalit, Bhairavi etc.)
The Mandala "suburb" of this township has buildings named after seasons (Hemant, Sharad, Shishir)
Some buildings of New Mandala are named after flowers like Pankaj, Kamal, Champa, Parijat, Gulmohar, Kumud etc.)
Recent additions to the high-rises are two new buildings: Udayagiri and Malayagiri, both of which are state of the art, spacious and well designed.
Barring the road which connects the main gate with the BARC north gate, no other roads are named. The Central Avenue road which divides Anushakti Nagar roughly into two halves, connects its main entrance with the BARC North Gate. It is a 2+2 lane divided by a 70-foot-wide (21 m) green stretch which runs all along. A number of people use the footpaths along this road for a pleasant stroll. Recently, sitting benches have been installed along the Central Avenue and many other roads, creating a very family-friendly atmosphere.
Anushakti Nagar can be said to be divided into three parts:
- Anushakti Nagar
- New Mandala
- Western Sector
With only about 11% of the 946-acre area concreteised (roads and buildings), it is considered to be one of the "greenest" and better maintained parts of (an otherwise polluted) Mumbai city.
Locality
Anushakti Nagar is located about 20 km north-east of Mumbai downtown. It has its own Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST) bus depot connecting it to most major Mumbai suburbs. Mankhurd, located about 1 km north of the neighbourhood, serves as its primary railway station connecting it via the harbour line of the Mumbai suburban railway network to CSMT via Kurla (about 22 km south) and to Vashi, Belapur, Panvel and Thane (via Vashi) to the north.
It is part of the Mumbai South Central (Lok Sabha constituency) which until mid-1990s was the largest (by population) Lok Sabha constituency in India, but it was called Mumbai North-East then. It is bordered on one side by a large hill which is the highest in Mumbai.
People
Many teachers of the AECS schools of Anushakti Nagar have also been awarded Presidents Gold Medals.
- Shreya Ghoshal a lead singer - a national awardee
- Suryakumar Yadav, a renowned international cricketer.
Education
The education up to XII standard for the residents is provided by Atomic Energy Education Society through Atomic Energy Central School (AECS), which are numbered 1 through 6, and a sprawling Atomic Energy Junior College (AEJC) for grades 11 and 12, on the foot of the Trombay Hill. Now the AECS School No. 4 has grade 11 and grade 12 under the CBSE, and is rated the top most school in all AECS schools in Anushaktinagar.
These schools cater to about 7000 students. Admission to these schools is strictly for children whose parents or guardians are employees of the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) and/or the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC). Despite the higher quality of education provided through these schools, the fee structure is highly subsidised and is an incentive for many employees to prefer to stay in Anushakti Nagar. Recently the AECS have started admitting grandchildren of the DAE/BARC/NPC employees as well. Non-DAE students are admitted in these schools at higher fees. The school system follows the CBSE (Central Board of Secondary Education). The medium of instruction is English.
Anushakti Nagar is host to BARC Training School, established in the year 1956, along with Homi Bhabha National Institute, which is a Deemed University. The BARC Training School is running Orientation Course for Engineering graduates and Science post-graduates (OCES) and serves as in-house human resource training centre for Department of Atomic Energy. Homi Bhabha National Institute which is dedicated to encouraging pursuit of excellence in sciences (including engineering sciences) and mathematics in a manner that has major significance for the progress of indigenous nuclear technological capability is located near BARC Training School. The HBNI provides an academic framework for integrating basic research being done at its grant-in-aid institutions and the research centres of DAE with technology development at the research centres. The institute trains high-quality manpower in the sciences including engineering sciences for taking up a career in nuclear science and technology and related areas in the Department of Atomic Energy or elsewhere. The institute also provides continuing education for the employees of the DAE for sharpening and updating their knowledge base while in service.
The Training School Hostel (TSH), and the New Bachelor's Hostel (NBH) provide accommodation for BARC trainees, as well as for interns and students who come for various academic purposes (like training for International Mathematics Olympiad or International Physics Olympiad etc.)
Leisure and sports
Anushakti Nagar has very good sports and games facilities with many apartment complexes having their own grounds which are usually occupied by cricket playing youngsters. It has a New Community Centre (NCC) established in the year 1991 and DAE Cultural Centre (DCC) established on 01-Dec-2015 by DAE Sports and Cultural Council for sports and cultural activities. NCC has facilities for playing indoor games like badminton & table-tennis, Billiards, gym, etc., and conducts training in performing arts like Western Dance, Musical Instrument, etc. DCC has the mandate of promotion of cultural activities, performing and visual arts of classical, traditional and contemporary genres. DCC conducts various cultural events and training programs in and around Anushakti Nagar.
There is one field each for Football, Cricket and Hockey, 9 floodlit Tennis Courts, 2 Basketball courts and 2 volleyball courts and a large number of badminton courts. There are vast playgrounds spread across the colony. It also has a few scattered basketball courts, volleyball facilities, and a huge football field near the junior college. A new sports complex with a swimming pool is also available for indoor games presently. It has produced many domestic & international cricketers like Lalchand Rajput & Surya Kumar Yadav along with international badminton player and national table tennis players like Rajat Hubli and also international Parabadminton champion Manasi Joshi (She is 2017, Tokyo, Japan, Champion in Women's doubles paired with Quixa Yang from China.).[2]
Besides the above, there are many group activities. The residents of buildings with a large number of flats, like Nilgiri, Akashganga, Akashratna, Akashdeep celebrate many festivals and functions together. In other cases, smaller buildings celebrate in a cluster. One of the more active clusters is Ragamala, where residents of about 250 flats come together to celebrate national festivals, religious festivals as well as an Annual Day complete with sports, cultural activities, dance, fun, and food.
Despite being a gated colony you would find food of various cuisines. Mumbai is famous for its street food like chaat, vada pav, samosa, etc. In the colony, you would find many stalls, restaurants serving the same delicious food and also different fusions cuisines embracing different cultures around the world.
Good Citizenship (Green, Social, Environmental, Awareness activities)
The residents of Anushakti Nagar are also conscious of their carbon footprint and undertake many activities to promote 4R (Reuse, Reduce, Recycle & Recover) coupled with giving back to the society. Residents have come together under the umbrella of an informal group called "Let's Be The Change". One of the recent activities included collecting old bicycles, get them repaired and provide them to students in rural areas to ensure better educational outcomes. The group also conducted drives to collect reusable materials like clothes, books, toys, household goods, etc and works with Goonj to get them delivered to needy. Many such drives have been successfully conducted. In addition to this, there have been special initiatives for collection of e-waste, thermocol, plastic waste with an objective of safe disposal. The "Let's Be The Change" group was recently felicitated by DAE Chairman, Shri K. N. Vyas for the group's contribution to social cause. With increasing awareness, even the Resident Associations are becoming environmentally conscious. The recently celebrated Ragamala Sports Day on 9th February 2020, did not use any single-use plastic for lunch served to about three hundred people.
See also
- Anushakti Nagar (Vidhan Sabha constituency)
Master Milen Manoj Earath in the first ever piano concert of Anushaktinagar conducted by DAE Cultural Centre
References
- "Pin code : Anushakti Nagar, Mumbai". pincode.org.in. Retrieved 5 February 2015.
- "Manasi Joshi".