Kharghar

Kharghar is a node of Navi Mumbai, conceived and constructed by CIDCO. It lies in the Raigad District and is developed and maintained by CIDCO. Kharghar is located on the Mumbai-Pune highway (NH 4) at a less-than-one hour drive from the heart of Mumbai city. The Area started developing in 1995 and now it boasts of number of ready and under-construction projects both in the commercial and residential segments.With so many new projects coming up these days Kharghar too claims to be the third most developed node of Navi Mumbai after Vashi and Nerul.

Introduction

Navi Mumbai is envisaged as a metro sized counter magnet to reduce the pressure on the Mumbai metropolis. It is planned as a polycentric new town with a series of nodal concentrations along mass-transport corridors. When fully built, it is expected to have 14 such townships (nodes) with a combined population holding capacity of 4 millions and one million jobs. Kharghar is one of these 14 nodes and is being developed by CIDCO for an estimated population of about 500,000.

Location

The site of Kharghar adjoins the Central Business District of Navi Mumbai and is bound by two major highways and the picturesque Kharghar Hills. Taloje industrial estate and the Taloje Creek are located on its east. Kharghar is primarily a residential township, but houses a part of Navi Mumbai's Central Business District.

Characteristics

Kharghar measures about 1700 ha. of area, 7 km long and 5 km wide. There are 12 village settlements located in Kharghar node having a combined population of 20,000. Kharghar is divided into 45 sectors. The general levels vary from 1.5 to 15.0 meters within the site. A third of the site is almost flat, but the areas close to the creek are low-lying. The Kharghar hills bring a huge amount of rainwater, which is to be directed into the creek through the node as well as the Central Park area.

Encircled by lush green mountains from all sides, Kharghar in Navi Mumbai is no less than a hill station in the rains . While the area was considered difficult to access a few years ago, its recent increase in well-planned infrastructure is making it a favourite among Mumbaikars.

Kharghar is a nature lovers' delight, having loads of open space and greenery everywhere. A gargantuan fountain adorns the area, a stroll in the evening refreshes you, and the waterfall at Pandavkhada is heaven for picnic lovers and is visited by people from all over Mumbai in the rainy season.

Infrastructure

With Rs 40,000 million (US $ 1140 million) worth of basic already in place, Navi Mumbai is ready, willing and able to absorb the imminent, large scale shift of population, business, commerce and non pollutant industry from Mumbai and elsewhere. Kharghar has large network of wide roads.

Power Supply continues to be a daily problem for Kharghar residents much like in other parts of navi Mumbai and Thane. Most residential buildings and business establishments need to have a generator and every house needs to have an invertor for power back up. Power usually goes around 05:00am to 09:00 pm and again between 01:30pm to 4:30pm. However there are days when there is uninterrupted power supply for 24 hours. MSEB is trying to improve the situation by purchasing additional power from private players.

There is no water scarcity in Kharghar and water supply is usually for 24 hours. Some sectors in Kharghar may not have telephone land lines since the cables have not yet been laid. People from these sectors have to rely on their cellular phones or fixed line wireless phones for communication.

Kharghar boasts of number of ready and under-construction projects both in the commercial and residential segments. "Seawood Heritage", Balaji Aangan, Hiranandani Complex (Crystal Plaza), Rail Vihar, Shanti Niketan tower sector no:08 & Kendriya Vihar are some of the oldest residential complexes of Kharghar. While the Indian Armed Forces have 2 Residential Enclaves - JalVayu Vihar and Raghunath Vihar.

There are a number of premium residential projects sprung up in Kharghar. Projects like Regency Hills, Kesar Harmony and upcoming Hexblox and Kesar Exotica are some of the best in navi Mumbai and are as costly as suburban Mumbai projects. There is unconfirmed news that a reputed business group is planning to build several Hollywood style luxury villas on Kharghar Hills for the rich & famous.

Hikers enjoy the hills around Kharghar during the monsoon season when waterfalls and rivulets burst forth.

CIDCO also has plans to build an 18 hole golf course in Sector 21 in Kharghar along with Shopping malls which should make the city one of the better locations in Navi Mumbai.The much awaited Central Park in Sector 23 is being planned on the concept of London's Central Park and will span around 80 hectares and cover three sectors. The park is intended to provide an excellent place for active and passive recreation. It also attempts to put Navi Mumbai on International Map. It is expected to be completed around mid 2010. The Central Park when completed will boast of Jogger’s Tracks, Food Courts, Fountains, Botanical Gardens, Amphitheatre, Theme Parks and a Conservatory.

ISCKON has commenced construction of their temple at the start of the Central Park. It is believed this will be the biggest ISCKON temple in India. Sector 12 also has a huge park called "Krantiveer Phadke Garden" catering to residents in Sector 12, 20 and 21.

Currently Kharghar has got its first multiplex movie theater located at Tiara Mall. There are retail brands like Food bazaar and Furniture Bazaar are available. Some of the upcoming malls are Little World and GloMax near Kharghar railway station, Prime Mall in Sector 12 and Shah Mall in Sector 20. Little World Mall will have Adlabs Multiplex and Big Bazar while Shah Mall and Prime Mall will also have multiplexes. There are adequate utility shops, departmental stores and super markets in every sector. More, Apna Bazar, Spencer's, Value Mart, Subhiksha, Spinach and Fairprice are some of the super markets functioning in Kharghar. In addition there are a few open markets in Sector 12. Meat shops are rare with only one in Sector 12. Spinach offers frozen meat products.

There are many banks in Kharghar with ATMs in every sector. ICICI Bank, State Bank of India, Union Bank, Bank of Mysore, Bank of Hyderabad and Bank of Baroda are some of the banks already functioning in Kharghar.

Siemens India Ltd has an office in Kharghar and the 10-storey building is a landmark near Kharghar railway station. Marathon Realty Group have recently announced the development of 25 acres Mini-SEZ off Panvel very close to the proposed Navi Mumbai International Airport. This mini-SEZ "NexZone" is specially for the IT/ITES industry and will have an integrated township of residential and commercial buildings, education institutions and entertainment malls. Nexzone is also close to the Mumbai-Goa road.

Transportation

Kharghar is located on the outskirts of Mumbai. It lies in what is commonly regarded as the Konkan part of Maharashtra and fall in Raigad District. It lies on the Harbour Railway, a part of Mumbai suburban railway system. It takes about 65 minutes to reach Kharghar by suburban train from Chatrapati Shivaji Terminus. A drive by road from CST (39 km) takes about 90 minutes. The six lane Mumbai-Pune Expressway starts at Kharghar. A new broad gauge line has connected Kharghar to Karjat via Panvel.

Local trains of the Harbour Line in the Central Railway ply between Kharghar and Chatrapati Shivaji Terminus stations and the Western line is connected through the Wadala station, The place is easily approachable from Pune, the other major city of the state. Within the suburb, Navi Mumbai Municipal Transport facilities are avaibale and buses ply frequently between stations, nodes and within sectors.

Private Cars and two wheelers continue tos erve as the prime means of transport. Private Taxi owners like Meru Networks offer taxi services from Kharghar to other parts of Navi Mumbai and Mumbai. Local public transportation within the node is difficult as the autorickshaws controlled by the native villagers of the area charge exhorbitant fares and do not follow the Road Traffic Office Mandatory Metering System. NMMT Bus services though improved over the years do not have sufficient frequency to cater to the growing population. Also NMMT Buses do not ply direclty to Kharghar Railway Station. Because of wide roads, sparse population and virtually non existent traffic police, several vehicles ply on the wrong side of the road and blatantly break traffic rules.

Bus Services with numbers

NMMT Services

* Route 26: Kharghar Jalvayu Vihar to Thane (Fast route) via Nerul
* Route 29: Kharghar Jalvayu Vihar to Thane (Slow route) via Nerul
* Route 44: CBD Railway Station to Dombivli
* Route 52: CBD Railway Station to Taloja
* Route 53: Kharghar Gharkul to CBD Railway Station
* Route 54: CISF colony to Kharghar Railway Station
* Route 55: Kharghar Jalvayu Vihar to Ghansoli (via Vashi Depot)

Navi Mumbai International Airport

The proposed new international airport is expected to be functional by 2012 in the Kopra area between Khandeshwar and Kamothe.

Kamothe (Manasarover) railway station is the next station after Kharghar on the Harbour Railway. By road, the upcoming airport is approximately 6 km from Kharghar. [ [http://www.cidcoindia.com/railkharghar.htm. It is to be located on highway NH 4B] ] .

There is a plan to build a sea link between Nhava Sheva and Sewri in Mumbai thus making the new airport accessible to not only Navi Mumbai residents but also the residents of South Mumbai and Pune.

Land Use Distribution

The landuse distribution proposed for Sector-23,24 & 25 is as under :

*Open Space -80 ha. 66.0%
*Residential -10.59 ha. 3.6%
*Commercial -5.56 ha. 14.6%
*Social Facilities- 9.28 ha. 11.0%
*Public Utilities -10.85ha 21.0%
*Circulation -4.41ha 3.5%
*Total -119.77ha 100.0%

Education

It is one of the most planned cities of Navi Mumbai and lies close to CBD Belapur, Vashi. This area is proposed to be developed as an education centre with a number of primary and higher education institutes opening their campuses in the vicinity.

It is also home to a number of educational institutions:
*AC Patil College of Engineering
*AC Patil C.E.Management Studies & Research
* [http://actrec.gov.in/ Advanced Centre for Treatment, Research and Education in Cancer (ACTREC)]
*Ryan International School (ICSE BOARD & IGCSE BOARD)
* [http://www.apeejay.edu/khargar/home.htm/ Apeejay School] (CBSE Board)
* [http://www.bbpsnavimumbai.com/ Bal Bharthi Public School (CBSE BOARD)]
*Bharati Vidyapeeth College of Architecture
*Bharati Vidyapeeth College of Engineering
*Bharati Vidyapeeth Institute of Technology
*Centre for Development of Advanced Computing - [http://www.cdacmumbai.in/ (C-DAC) Kharghar]
* [http://www.davisk.com/ D.A.V. International School (CBSE board)]
*ITM business school
*NIFT (National Institute of Fashion Technology)
*Priyadarshini International School
*Sanjeevani School
*Saraswati College of Engineering
*Saraswati C.E. Management Studies
*Vishwa Jyot High School
*Y.M.T. Medical College of Dentistry, Ayurvedic and Homoeopathy
*Y.M.T. College of Management & Technology
*Convent Of Jesus & Mary High School (State Board)

Site for Central Park

The proposed park will occupy an area of 119 Ha. (approx.) spread over Sec-23,24&25 . An area of 80 ha. (approx.) earmarked for 'Central Park'. It is a relatively flat terrain that has Sporadic Vegetation. The site acts as link between two natural elements - hill and water. Various activities proposed to be taken up in the Central park are as under
*Theme Parks
*Morning walk-trails
*Joggers tracks
*Water Sports
*Cricket, football grounds
*Sports clubs
*Botanical garden
*Amphitheaters
*Active & passive recreation areas
*All ancillary facilities - parking, eateries, toilets ,etc.

Landmarks in Kharghar

Major Roundabouts
*Utsav Chowk
*Shilp Chowk
*Sec-12 CIDCO Park
*Kendriya Vihar
*Jal Vayu Vihar
*Raghu Nath Vihar

References

* [http://www.cidcoindia.com/frm_navimum.htm Cidco plans for Kharghar]
* [http://www.mumbaipropertyexchange.com/bi_location.asp?
]
* [http://www.kharghardirectory.com Kharghar's own online directory service - KhargharDirectory.com]

External links

* [http://vtalk2.com/ Navi Mumbai Community Website]
* [http://anushaktinagar.googlepages.com/busandtraintimings2 Harbour Line Train Timetable]
* [http://www.kharghardirectory.com KhargharDirectory.com - Kharghar Business directory]

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