Thane district

• Rajan Vichare (SHS-(UBT))
  (Thane)
• Shrikant Shinde (SHS)
  (Kalyan)
• Kapil Patil (BJP)
  (Bhiwandi)

The two main rivers flowing through the district are the Ulhas and the Vaitarna. The Ulhas originates from the north of Tungarli near Lonavala, flows for a short distance before descending near Bor ghat, and meets the sea at Vasai Creek. The Ulhas River is 135 km long. The river has many tributaries; the two most important of them (within the boundaries of this district) are the Barvi and the Bhatsa. The Vaitarna, the largest of the Konkan rivers, rises in the Tryambak Hills in Nashik district, opposite to the source of the Godavari. The river flows across Shahapur, wada and Palghar talukas and enter the Arabian Sea through a wide estuary off Arnala. The Vaitarna River is 154 km long and has a drainage area that practically covers the entire northern part of the district. It has a number of tributaries; the most important of them are the Pinjal, Surya, Daherja and Tansa.

Many small creeks are found all along the western coast, in which tidal waters flood upstream and fill up much low ground. In many cases human interference has helped in converting them into mud flats. The bigger creeks are Bhiwandi, Chinchani, and Dahanu Creeks. The Thane Creek is not a creek in the true sense, but a depression engulfed by the sea.

The northern part of the Salsette Island is part of Thane District, which is separated from the mainland by the Ulhas estuary and the Thane Creek but is connected through reclaimed land with the island city of Mumbai. Arnala Island is located in Vasai taluka, at the entrance to the Vaitarna estuary.

The district has no natural lakes. Artificial lakes have been constructed mainly to supply drinking water to Mumbai. The Tansa Lake formed across the Tansa River in the hills north of Bhiwandi behind the dam completed in 1892 CE. The Modak Sagar (Lower Vaitarna) Lake on the river Vaitarna formed behind a dam completed in 1957 CE. In the upper reaches of the same river, the Upper Vaitarana Lake formed behind another dam built in 1972 CE. The Bhatsa Lake has been formed in the upper Bhatsa, north of Shahapur behind a dam built in 1981 CE.[8] Tourism Nature lovers proudly call Thane as a “Lake City” or "city of lakes".

Several hot springs are in the Vasai Taluka in the bed of the Tansa River. They are near Akloli, Ganeshpuri and Vajreshwari villages. There are some more examples: Kokner (Maswan tal-Palghar) and Sativali (Saphale tal:-Palghar). The water temperatures are in the range of 42°-55 °C.[7]

There are two distinct climates in the district, one on the western coastal plains and the other on the eastern slopes of Sahyadri. The climate on the western coastal plains of Thane, Vasai, Palghar and Dahanu talukas is tropical, very humid and warm. The climate on the plains at the foot of the slopes (Kalyan, Bhiwandi, Vada, Ulhasnagar, Ambarnath and Talasari talukas) and on the eastern slopes of Sahyadri (Murbad, Shahapur, Jawhar, Vikramgad and Mokhada talukas) is comparatively less humid. The temperature variation is more in the eastern part of the district comparing to the western coastal areas.

The district has four seasons. Winter is from December to February, followed by summer from March to June. The southwest monsoon season is from June to September. October and November months constitute the post-monsoon season, which is hot and humid in the coastal areas.

In the coastal area, the average daily maximum temperature in summer is 32.9 °C (maximum recorded at Dahanu is 40.6 °C on 19 April 1955) and in winter average mean daily minimum temperature is 16.8 °C (minimum recorded at Dahanu is 8.3 °C on 8 January 1945). But in the interior parts of the district, the average daily minimum temperature is slightly lower in the winter season and the average daily maximum temperature is higher in the summer.

The average annual rainfall in the district is 2293.4 mm. The rainfall in the district increases from the coastal areas to the interior. The rainfall varies from 1730.5 mm at Mahim on the coast to 2588.7 mm at Shahapur in the interior. The rainfall during the southwest monsoon season, June to September, constitutes about 94% of the annual rainfall. July is the wettest month with a rainfall of about 40% of the annual total. The variation in the annual rainfall from year to year in the district is not large. The highest rainfall recorded in 24 hours at any station in the district was 481.1 mm at Dahanu on 1 September 1958 CE.[9]

1. Thane Sub-Division: Thane taluka,
2. Kalyan Sub-Division: Kalyan taluka, Murbad taluka
3. Ulhasnagar Sub-Division: Ulhasnagar taluka, Ambarnath taluka
4. Bhiwandi Sub-Division: Bhiwandi taluka, Shahapur taluka

Municipal Corporations:

• Thane Municipal Corporation
• Mira-Bhayandar Municipal Corporation
• Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation
• Kalyan-Dombivali Municipal Corporation
• Ulhasnagar Municipal Corporation
• Bhiwandi-Nizampur Municipal Corporation

Municipal Councils:

• Ambernath
• Kulgaon-Badlapur

Nagar Panchayats:

• Shahapur
• Murbad

Proposed Municipal Corporations:

• Ambernath-Badlapur

Proposed Municipal Councils:

• Shahapur-Asangaon (merging the Census Towns of Shahapur, Goteghar and Asangaon)
• Murbad (merging Murbad Census Town and villages of Malinagar, Ghutyachiwadi, Deogaon, Deope, Shastrinagar)

Proposed Nagar Panchayats:

• Vangani
• Khadavli
• Vasind
• Kasara
• Khardi
• Vajreshwari (merging Vajreshwari and Ganeshpuri)
• Padgha (merging Padgha and Borivali Tarf Rahur)
• Kharbav
• Mahapoli

There are 18 Vidhan Sabha constituencies in Thane district, grouped into 3 Lok Sabha constituencies:

• Bhiwandi Rural (ST), Shahapur (ST), Bhiwandi West, Bhiwandi East, Kalyan West and Murbad constituencies are part of Bhiwandi Lok Sabha constituency.
• Ambarnath (SC), Ulhasnagar, Kalyan East, Dombivali, Kalyan Rural and Mumbra-Kalwa constituencies are part of Kalyan Lok Sabha constituency.
• Mira Bhayandar, Ovala-Majiwada, Kopri-Pachpakhadi, Thane, Belapur and Airoli constituencies are part of Thane Lok Sabha constituency.[11]

For a number of years up until 2013, it was proposed that the Thane district be divided and a separate Jawhar District carved out of the existing Thane district with the inclusion of the northern tribal talukas of Thane district which include Palghar, Vada, Vikramgad, Jawhar, Mokhada, Dahanu and Talasari talukas in the proposed Jawhar district. The last Princely Ruler of Jawhar State at Indian independence was His Highness Maharaja Patangshah V (Yashwantrao Martandrao) Mukne. Jawhar was the cultural capital of this rural part of Thane District which was previously known as Jawhar State ruled by Kolis.[12] However, in June 2014, the Maharashtra State government decided to add an eighth taluka Vasai, which was previously part of Thane district to the other seven talukas, and decided that the new District would be headquartered in Palghar. In June 2014, the State Cabinet approved the bifurcation of the district into two districts - Thane and Palghar. The new Palghar district comprises the seven talukas which it had been proposed to comprise in the putative Jawhar District, with the addition of Vasai taluka. The effective date for bifurcation was 1 August 2014.[13]

At the time of the 2011 Census of India in the residual district, 49.78% of the population in the district spoke Marathi, 18.65% Hindi, 9.86% Urdu, 4.27% Gujarati, 2.81% Sindhi, 2.15% Bhojpuri, 1.60% Telugu, 1.57% Marwari, 1.50% Malayalam, 1.43% Kannada, 1.20% Tamil and 1.17% Bengali as their first language.[18]

It had a population of 8,131,849 of which 72.58% were urban as of 2001.[19] Total literacy rate of the district is 80.67% (male 87.06% and female 73.10%). The population of Thane district in 2011 had risen to 11,054,131; this is close to 10 percent ( 9.84 ) of Maharashtra's estimated population of 112.4 million and 1% of India's total population.[20] It was the most populated district in the country, somewhat ahead of North 24 Parganas district in West Bengal which had 10,082,852 people.[21] The density of population was estimated at 1,157 people per square kilometre. The sex ratio i.e. number of females per 1000 male was 880 which is less than the states average of 925 and the national average of 940.[22] The creation of the new Palghar district from the northern and western talukas has now reduced the population of Thane District to some 8,070,032 inhabitants as at the 2011 Census.

The southern talukas are mainly urban areas. Marathi is the dominant language in rural areas such as Shahapur and Murbad, while urban areas are a mixture of languages from all over India with Marathi and Hindi the main ones.

The important kharif crops of the district are rice, vari and nachani (finger millet). The pulses like Urad, moong and kulith are also grown in this season. Rice is the main crop of the district. Rice is grown in all the talukas of the district but mainly in Palghar, Bhiwandi, Murbad, Shahapur, Vada, Vikramgad and Dahanu. Vari and nachani are grown in the hilly areas of the eastern part of the district, namely Jawhar, Murbad, Vikramgad, Shahapur and Mokhada talukas. Wal, chavali and gram are the main rabi crops grown in this district. Dahanu taluka is famous for fruits. Chikoos (sapotas) are grown on a large scale at Gholwad. Chikoo orchards are also found in Palghar and Talasari talukas. Chikoos grown in these areas are sent all over India. Other fruits grown in the district are guavas, mangoes, papayas, grapefruits and coconuts. Vasai and Palghar talukas are famous for different varieties of bananas such as rajeli, tambeli, mutheli and velchi. Seasonal fruits grown in the district such as bor, wild berries and litchis have great demands in the markets of Mumbai. Vegetables are also grown in the district. Among the vegetables, eggplants are grown on a large scale. There are rose gardens at Dahanu.[24]

Thane is the third most industrialised district in the State. There are 1548 large and medium scale and 18,480 small scale industries in the district. The main products of these industries are Drugs, Textiles, Adhesives, Plastics, Rubber, Steel, Pharmaceuticals, Engineering, Fertilizers, Electronics, Chemicals and Iron & Steel. The Thane-Belapur-Kalyan industrial belt is the centre of highly sophisticated modern industries. In Ulhasnagar, Ambarnath, Bhiwandi, Badlapur, Tarapur, Palghar, Vasai and Murbad there are nearly 4000 industries which contribute towards the industrialisation of the district. Manufacture of machinery, machine tools and parts except electrical machinery together with the iron and steel industry and metal products are the most important and the biggest group of industries in the district and includes manufacture of Prime movers, Boilers, Refrigerators, Machine Tools, Computing and Accounting machinery, Industrial machinery for food and textile industries, machinery for chemicals, paper and cement industries. Manufacture of basic industrial chemicals including fertilizers, vegetable and animal oils and fats, paints, varnishes and lacquers and other miscellaneous chemical products is another important industry in the district. These industries are mainly concentrated in the Trans-Thane Creek and Belapur Road industrial area. The medium and large industries manufacturing chemicals and chemical products are Pfizer, Lubrizol India Ltd., Polyolefins Industries Ltd., NOCIL, Herdillia Chemicals Ltd., BASF (India) Ltd., Star Chemicals, INDOFIL INDUSTRIES LIMITED, and Phoenix Chemical Works. The chemical industries are also found in other parts of the district like Wagle Industrial Estate, Pokhran Road, Ambarnath and Dombivli. The cotton and non-cotton power looms are mainly located at Bhiwandi, Thane and Kalyan. Traditionally, Bhiwandi is famous for its handlooms. But the deteriorating markets for the handlooms compelled the weavers to replace their handlooms by powerlooms. Fisheries constitute an important industry in Thane district. It is carried out in sea as well as in creeks and estuaries on the western coast. Marine fishery predominates over inland fishery in the district and provides employment to about 75% of the persons engaged in the fishing industry. Fishing in sea is carried out along the coast stretching over about 110 km. The important fishing centres in the district are Dahanu, Pokharan-Uchheli, Nawapur, Murabe, Satpute, Datiware, Arnala, Vasai and Uran. Food processing industries like grain mill products, Bakery products, Cocoa, Chocolate and Sugar Confectionery, Salt, ice, slaughtering, preparation and preservation of meat, dairy products, canning and preservation of fruits and vegetables, canning, preserving and processing of fish are developed in the district. Raptakos, Brett and Co., Pfizer Ltd., Cadbury Fry (India) Ltd. which produce modified milk food and high protein food are some of the large and medium companies in the district. Wood products like plywood and veneer, wooden boxes, barrels, bamboo, cane baskets, bobbins, industrial fixtures, cork & cork products are also manufactured in the district. The Tarapur Atomic Power Station which has ushered an era of utilisation of nuclear energy for electricity generation is also situated in the district. The finance is being provided by various public sector and private sector Banks and Financial Institutions in the district. Bank of Maharashtra is one of the leading Public Sector Banks of the district, having 60 branches (2000 CE).[23]