When I was a kid growing up in Mumbai, I was lucky enough to stay on the 16th floor of a building at Nariman Point. Lucky because when the weather was clear, the eastern horizon was no longer a dull haze but a jagged outline of the magnificent Sahyadri mountains! Even with the unaided eye, a lot of details are visible. With a pair of binoculors, one could spend hours gazing and exploring this amazing view.
Shown below is a map of the region showing the various mountains I could observe from my home. Keep in mind that there may be a lot more visible from other buildings having a more unobstructed view.
On most days, air pollution from the city and its environment does not permit good visibility. The best days for viewing are in the winter months when a combination of cooler temperatures and strong winds keeps the air quality good. Under such conditions, the early morning hours provide solid silhouttes of the peaks against the eastern skyline. However, the best viewing opportunity for observing features is in the afternoon when the illumination angle is best.
Under certain unusual weather conditions, the visibility range is considerably increased. It is only on such occasions that I could see the Deccan Plateau and the Mahuli range.
As a kid, I often used to wonder how far those mountains were. Later, I managed to get some crude maps of the area and could approximately determine the distance to most of the peaks shown in the map above. Today, thanks to GPS technology, it is possible to know with great accuracy what these distances are.
Shown below is a table containing the distances to some of the visible Sahyadri mountains from my old home in Nariman Point:
Landmark
Distance (km)
Matheran (Panorama Point)
48.656
Chanderi
46.488
Tavli
45.464
Haji Malang
42.428
Prabal
41.974
Mahuli
76.401
Deccan Plateau (as marked on map)
81.344
Karnala
31.525
You may wonder how these distances were obtained with this level of accuracy. These distance measurements are possible thanks to GPS coordinates of these Sahyadri mountains. For a detailed tabulation of GPS coordinates of most Sahyadri landmarks,
click here.
Once the GPS coordinates of the point of interest are obtained (as from the database mentioned above), the distance of this point to any other point whose GPS coordinates are also known can be determined with great accuracy. A simple online tool enables you to punch in the coordinates of two landmarks and instantly provides you with the distance between these two points to an accuracy of 5 meters or 15 feet. To access this tool,
click here.
Have you seen any interesting Sahyadri landmarks from Mumbai? If so, I would appreciate hearing from you! Please e-mail me at
DrChengalva@hotmail.com
