Malad

Malad is a suburb located in the northern part of Mumbai. It is among the Western Suburbs of Mumbai. Malad has a railway station on the Western Line of the Mumbai Suburban Railway, lying between Kandivali station to the north and Goregaon station to the south. The railway tracks of the Western Line divide Malad into Malad(West) and Malad(East).Until the mid-20th Century, Malad was a sparsely populated suburb cut across by creeks and mangroves. Since the late 20th Century, Malad has become an attractive residential area for white-collar middle-class population from different communities. There were also some small industrial estates. These two developments resulted in the growth of large slums too. Beginning in the early 2000s, Malad witnessed a process of gentrification, with the emergence of large commercial complexes, shopping malls, gated communities, and the large-scale demolition and relocation of slums. Today, Malad is often promoted as "Mumbai's fastest growing suburb".HistoryIn the 19th century, Malad consisted of a number of villages including Orlem(also known as Valnai), Kharodi, Rathodi, Malwani, Marve, Aksa, Madh and Chinchowli. The other old settlements in Malad were villages occupied by the local East Indian Community, Bhandaris, Kolis, Muslim & South Indian People who are recognized as the original native inhabitants of Mumbai.