Kharghar | |
---|---|
Nodal city of Navi Mumbai | |
Coordinates: 19°02′10″N 73°03′42″E / 19.036146°N 73.0617213°E | |
Country | India |
State | Maharashtra |
City | Navi Mumbai |
District | Raigad |
Sub-district | Panvel Taluka |
Founded by | CIDCO |
Government | |
• Body | Panvel Municipal Corporation and CIDCO |
Area | |
• Total | 10 km2 (4 sq mi) |
Population (2020) | |
• Total | 244,472 |
• Density | 24,000/km2 (63,000/sq mi) |
Time zone | UTC+5:30 (IST) |
PIN | 410210 |
Telephone code | 022 |
Vehicle registration | MH-46 (Raigad district's Navi Mumbai) |
Nearest city | Panvel |
Literacy | 98% |
Civic agency | Panvel Municipal Corporation |
Urban Local Planning | CIDCO |
Climate | Monsoon (Köppen) |
Kharghar is a node of Raigad District's Navi Mumbai and it is a suburb under Panvel Municipal Corporation. It is situated at the northernmost tip of Raigad district. It was developed by the City and Industrial Development Corporation (CIDCO).
Kharghar is now administered by recently established Panvel Municipal Corporation. Prashant Thakur, MLA represents Kharghar in the State Legislative Assembly as part of Panvel constituency. Kharghar is also developed as Education Hub of Navi Mumbai as many prominent schools and colleges are present in Kharghar Node and is also one of the poshest areas of Navi Mumbai.[1]
The Taloja-Belapur part of metro has started functioning and metro service in this part has commenced from 17th November 2023.
There had been significant delay in this metro project and earlier CIDCO issued a press release stating they were confident of kick-starting partial services of the Navi Mumbai Metro in December 2021.[2]
Further, in October 2021, the Navi Mumbai Metro received an Interim Speed Certificate by the Research Design and Standards Organisation (RDSO) based on successful trials on Line-1 connecting the Central Park metro station to the Pendhar metro station, which stretches 5.14 km between stations 7 and 11. The certification expedited the process of starting commercial runs from the end of December, 2021.[3]
The Metro commencement was further delayed due to safety certification.[4]
The railway board has approved coaches and other operational equipment, post a two-day inspection from the Commissioner of Metro Railway Safety (CMRS) on January 17–18.
As per India Census 2011, the population of Kharghar was 80,612 out of these 42,001 was males and 38,611 was females.
Year | Male | Female | Total Population | Change | Religion (%) | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Hindu | Muslim | Christian | Sikhs | Buddhist | Jain | Other religions and persuasions | Religion not stated | |||||
2011[7] | 42001 | 38611 | 80612 | - | 82.687 | 5.103 | 3.034 | 1.744 | 5.807 | 0.944 | 0.082 | 0.598 |
The park occupies an area of 119 Ha. (approx.) spreading over into Sectors 23, 24 & 25 in Kharghar. An area of 80 ha. (approx.) is earmarked for 'Central Park'. It is a relatively flat terrain that has sporadic vegetation. The site acts as a link between two natural elements: hill and water. Mumbai: A sprawling hill plateau spread over 250 acres at Kharghar in Navi Mumbai will soon be up for grabs. The City and Industrial Development Corporation (Cidco) will hold a global auction with a reserve price of Rs 2,000 crore to create a theme-cum-entertainment city on the lines of Hollywood, Disneyland and Sentosa park in Singapore.
The park has been open to the public since January 2010, and there is no entrance fee for visitors. Since its inauguration, the Central Park at Kharghar, is the center of recreational activities for people in Kharghar as well as other places. For safety there are four CCTVs at the Central Park, which keeps a check on the visitors and keep a track of all the people. This move aims at ensuring maximum security for those who visit the park," a senior Cidco official said.[8]
In 2023, Residents of Kharghar and Navi Mumbai who frequently visited Central Park in Kharghar had raised significant concerns about the park's deteriorating condition. They emphasized the urgent need for maintenance and rejuvenation. The park's fencing had been stolen and the lake within the premises was in dire need of cleaning since it was filled with algae and litter (mostly plastic bottles).[9] In a positive turn of events for residents of Kharghar and Navi Mumbai, CIDCO has taken proactive steps to clean the once-polluted lake at Central Park. This commendable action was prompted by the vigilance of Kharghar Civic, a proactive Twitter account dedicated to addressing local concerns, which brought the matter to CIDCO's attention. Till July 2023, the lake was beautifully cleaned. The difference in the lake before and after the clean-up was found remarkable by local residents.[10]
Kharghar has a pollution crisis of its own, arising out of the industries in the Taloja MIDC area, besides other sources, and residents have been facing health issues since a long time owing to the polluted air. The most impacted or polluted sectors in Kharghar are sectors 34, 35, 36 and 37, besides Taloja, Kalamboli and Panvel. Some local residents and activists have been monitoring the pollution and collecting data to be able to take action against polluting industries in the region.[12]
On 15 January 2021, a city based environmental organisation, Waatavaran (Climate, Environment and Sustainability Foundation (WCES), set up an installation called the "Billboard the Breathes", at the Bank of India signal junction, sector 7, Kharghar. Though the installation was installed on 15 January 2021, it was inaugurated on Saturday, 16 January 2021, by Panvel City Municipal Corporation's (PCMC) Mayor, Dr Kavita Choutmol.[13]
The billboard was installed to have a real time visual impact on the local residents of Kharghar and Taloja, who have been plagued by growing pollution emerging from the Taloja MIDC area, construction activities, the quarry at Kharghar and vehicular movement in the region. It was to remind local residents of the pollution crisis in the area every time they looked at it.
The installation, was the brainchild of Jhatka.org, and consisted two large-sized lungs depicting the human lungs, and retrofitted with HEPA filters and a fan to suck air, to mimic the process of human breathing. Along with that it had a digital air quality monitor to display the real-time air quality index (AQI). The lungs were white in colour by default and were meant to change colour as per existing pollution in the area during a stipulated period of time.
The local residents were encouraged to monitor the billboard on a regular basis to witness the impact of pollution on a day-to-day basis and it was to be monitored for two weeks to come to a conclusion.[14]
However, the billboard had started changing colour from white to grey, barely a day after installation,[15] alarming social activists, local residents and the administration.[16]
The Air Quality Index (AQI) during the observation period was always between 230 and 365, which was very high, and continues to remain so. The experiment further fortified the earlier findings of another experiment by Waatavaran, which had revealed extremely high levels of PM2.5 in the air, in the Kharghar-Taloja-Panvel belt. After several complaints the 'Navi Mumbai Pollution Control Board' was ordered to install a pollution monitoring device, following which the MPCB installed 11 automatic monitoring machines.[17]
In 2023, the Air Quality Index (AQI) has reduced down to around 152–172, which is still under the unhealthy category.
Kharghar-Ulwe coastal road connecting Kharghar directly to Mumbai Trans Harbour Link and Navi Mumbai International Airport.
Kharghar-Turbhe Tunnel Project having entry and exit near Gurudwara at Kharghar just adjacent to Tata Cancer Hospital (ACTREC), Govt. of India.