Gorai
Coordinates: 19°15′00″N 72°46′55″E / 19.250057°N 72.782021°E
Gorai is a village in Dharavi Bhet, the North-western part of the island of Salsette near Mumbai, India. Gorai is accessed more usually by a ferry crossing the Manori Creek or otherwise by the overland route through Bhayander. Gorai is bordered by the villages of Manori and Uttan, Pali, Chowk, Dongri, Tarodi, Rai, Morva and Murdhe. Until the 1980s, Gorai was known for its clean beaches and palm trees. However, with the increase in pollution around Mumbai, the Arabian Sea is unfit for swimming although Gorai is less polluted than the other beaches in Mumbai. Gorai still enjoys its calm, laid back charm quite in contrast to the fast paced life of the city just on the other side of the creek. Bullock carts are still in use here and the area suffers from a water shortage but with real-estate developers steadily bulldozing their way into this prized suburban tract, the physical and cultural fabric of the villagers of Gorai is now quite endangered.
The Essel World amusement park has been set up in part of Gorai, by expropriating lands from the East Indians without a fair compensation and in the teeth of their protests. Essel World promised to build a school, dispensary and give jobs to the locals of Gorai. None of these have materialized. The Global Vipassana Pagoda, featuring the tallest pillar-less dome in the world, a place for meditation, is built on 13 acres of land near Gorai. It is similar in shape to the Shwedagon Pagoda in Yangon, Myanmar.
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