General

JAGGANNATH NANA SHUNKERSETT WAS ONE OF THE DIRECTORS IN GREAT INDIAN PENINSULAR RAILWAYS IN 1853 FIRST TRAIN COMMENCED FROM BORI BUNDER TO THANE,JAGGANNATH SHUNKERSETT HAD DONATED HIS LAND IN GIRGAUM TO CONSTRUCT TEMPLE IN HIS FATHERS NAME,HE DONATED A LARGE SUM OF MONEY AND A BIG COLLECTIONS OF HIS RARE BOOKS WHEN ASIATIC LIBRARY WAS CONSTRUCTED,HE HAD DONATED LARGE SUM OF MONEY FOR CONSTRUCTION OF BHAUDAJI LAD MUSEUM NEAR BYCULLA ZOOLOGICAL PARK ,HE ALONG WITH DADABHAI NOWROJEE ASKED ENGLISH GOVERNOR OF BOMBAY TO CONSTRUCT A BIG UNIVERSITY WHICH IS NAMED UNIVERSITY OF MUMBAI,BOTH OF THESE SOCIAL REFORMERS ASKED THE ENGLISHMEN TO CONSTRUCT ONE BIG HOSPITAL WHICH STANDS TALL IN THE NAME OF GRANT MEDICAL COLLEGE DURING PLAGUE EPIDEMIC HE USED TO VISIT THIS HOSPITAL DAILY AND USED TO INQUIRE ABOUT THE HEALTH OF ALL THE PATIENTS ADMITTED IN THIS HOSPITAL ,NANA GAVE A PART OF HIS RESIDENCE TO START SCHOOL FOR THE GIRLS IN WHICH HIS 2 DAUGHTERS WERE ENROLLED ALONG WITH OTHER GIRLS OF LOCAL GIRGAUM AREAS THE PRESENT BOMBAY MUNICAPAL CORPORATION OFFICE WAS CONSTRUCTED WITH HIS LIBERAL FUNDINGS AND DONATION OF HIS PERSONAL LAND FOR ITS CONSTRUCTIONS,HE WAS A SOCIAL REFORMER AND A GREAT PHILANTROPIST ,WHO DONATED LARGE SUM OF MONEY FOR CONSTRUCTION OF RAJABAI TOWERS AND LARGE CONSTRUCTIONS OF BLACK STONE PIECES CUT TOGETHER WHICH WERE PLACED VERTICALLY TOGETHER IN CONSTRUCTIONSOF ROADS EVEN TODAY THE BLACK STONE USED IN CONSTRUCTION OF ROADS WHICH WAS CONSTRUCTED 200 YEARS AGO ARE REGULARLY USED BY PASSENGERS LEAVING THE GM OFFICE BUILDINGS WHICH NEEDS NO REPAIRS IT SEEMS ALL OF THE MUMBAIKARS AND MAHARASHTRIANS HAVE FORGOTTEN ABOUT THE WORK WHICH HE HAD DONE FOR MAKING MUMBAI A FINANCIAL CAPITAL ,I PERSONALLY FEEL THAT GM BUILDING GARDEN MAY CONSTRUCT A STATUE IN THE LAWNS OF THIS AREA SO THAT EVERYONE WILL REMEMBER THE CONTRIBUTIONS OF JAGGANNATH NANA SHUNKERSETT DURING THE RULE OF BRITISH INDIA IN BOMBAY,IF THE PRESENT GOVERNMENT CONSIDERS TO HAVE A LOCAL STATION OF THANE IN HIS MEMORY IT WILL BE A MEMORABLE INCIDENCE TO REMEMBER FOR CENTURIES ABOUT NANAS CONTRIBUTION TO MUMBAI DURING THOSE BRITISH TIMES