Panvel

Panvel
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Panvel Location of Panvel in Maharashtra and India
Coordinates	18°59′N 73°06′E / 18.98°N 73.1°E / 18.98; 73.1Coordinates: 18°59′N 73°06′E / 18.98°N 73.1°E / 18.98; 73.1
Country	India
State	Maharashtra
District(s)	Raigad District
Head of Panvel Municipal Council	Sandeep Patil
Civic agency	Panvel Municipal Council (Panvel); City and Industrial Development Corporation of Maharashtra (New Panvel)
Population • Density	204,336 (2001[update]) • 8,514 /km2 (22,051 /sq mi)
Time zone	IST (UTC+05:30)
Area • Elevation	24 km2 (9 sq mi) • 28 metres (92 ft)
Codes • Pincode • 410206 • Telephone • +022 • Vehicle • MH 46

Panvel (Marathi: पनवेल) is city and a municipal council in Raigad district in the state of Maharashtra. Panvel is also known as the gateway of Konkan region. It adjoins Navi Mumbai, and is just after the Thane district border. Panvel is located on the Yashwantrao Chavan Expressway about 21 kilometres from Mumbai.

Geography

Panvel is situated on the banks of the Gadhi river (later becomes Panvel Creek).

Demographics

As of 2001^[update] India census,^[1] Panvel had a population of 204,336. Males constitute 53% of the population and females 47%. Panvel has an average literacy rate of 78%, higher than the national average of 59.5%: male literacy is 81%, and female literacy is 74%. In Panvel, 13% of the population is under 6 years of age.

Panvel is the largest and most populated city in Raigad district. The city also happens to be the headquarters of Panvel taluka with more than 1000 villages under it. The development authority of Panvel is the Panvel Municipal Council (PMC) and that of New Panvel is CIDCO. The villages of Panvel come under the purview of Raigad Zilla Parishad.

History

Panvel is about 300 years old, developed around trade routes (both land and sea), during the Mughal rule and hence after by the Marathas, the British and the Portuguese. Panvel Municipal Council (PMC) was established in the year 1852, which is the oldest municipal council of Maharashtra. Also civilians celebrated Sesquicentennial anniversary (150th anniversary) of Panvel Municipal Council (PMC)in the year 2002. The city prospered and grew due to the influence of large scale trade by land and sea. This was characterised by the large Wadas (Palace-like homes) that came up during the Peshwai and post-Peshwai period. It is also said that old name of this city was Paneli. There were Historic cannons (During the time of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj) situated on Panvel port.

New Panvel

The recent developments of Panvel are in New Panvel. New Panvel is developed and administered by CIDCO. Though residents of New Panvel elect a representative in the Panvel Municipal Council, the Municipal Council does not control or manage any administrative or development activity in New Panvel.

New Panvel is a town planned and developed by CIDCO of Maharsahtra in Raigad district. The development of New Panvel was initiated in 1970’s to meet the housing requirements of employees working in the nearby industrial MIDC areas such as Taloja, Rasayani, Patalganga & Pen.

New Panvel is strategically located on the eastern side of the Mumbai-Bangalore National Highway (NH-4) and the Mumbai-Pune Expressway. It is well connected to rest of India by road and railway. National Highway 17, which is the 7th longest highway in India, starts from Panvel.

New Panvel is planned on an area of 515 hectares, and the town is divided in two parts – New Panvel East and New Panvel West (commonly known as Khanda Colony). They have 19 and 23 sectors respectively.

New Panvel is just adjacent to the proposed Navi Mumbai International airport. A Reliance SEZ is also coming up in the vicinity. It has a number of schools, colleges and hospitals to meet the needs of its residents. New flyover is coming up for resident of sector 3-4-5-6.

Industries

Panvel is surrounded by some major MIDC managed regions e.g. Patalganga, Taloja, Nagothane, Roha, Khopoli.There is a most famous society named neel lake view. Some of the Indian Industry majors like Larsen & Toubro Limited, Reliance, Hindustan Organics Chemicals Ltd., ONGC, IPCL are based around Panvel providing mass employment. The JNPT port is also located near Panvel. New SEZs declared by Government are coming around Panvel. Inside the city some smaller entities like Dhootpapeshwar Trust can be found.

Mega City Project

The then Chief Minister of Maharashtra, Vilasrao Deshmukh, approved Panvel Mega City Project to be implemented by MMRDA with an investment of over 50,000 crore (US$10.14 billion) by many foreign firms including Gulf Finance House. The city will have three parts viz. Energy City, Information Technology and Telecom City, and Entertainment City. The project is expected to create employment for 7.5 lakh people. The first phase is expected to be complete by 2014 while the entire project will be ready by 2020.

Panvel Logistic Park

Arshiya International ltd is the first developer & operator of mega logistics parks in the form of Free Trade and Warehousing Zones (FTWZ); that would not only allow hubbing in strategic locations across India but do this with the right regulatory framework to remove inefficiencies in logistics owing to policy framework. Mumbai FTWZ is already operational from Nov, 2010. Benefits through this pioneering venture for customers would be Duty/Tax Incentives, Faster Regulatory Clearances, Reduced Capital Expenses, Visibility, Flexibility and most importantly, significantly reduce working capital costs - for all of Arshiya's clients leveraging the FTWZ infrastructure. Each FTWZ is integrated with its own dedicated Container Yard (CY) / Inland Container Depot (ICD), Customised Storage facility for all kinds of cargo, Exhibition & Office Complex and also core services such as Banking/Financial Services, Insurance, Manpower Agencies, Utilities etc.

Tourist places around Panvel

Between Pen and Panvel lies the Karnala fort. At the bottom of the fort there is a bird sanctuary. Karnala is 65 km away from Mumbai, 120 km away from Pune and 13 km away from Panvel. The sanctuary is around 25 m above mean sea level, while the fort itself is 370 m above mean sea level. Maharashtra Government declared this 4.5 km². region as the bird sanctuary in 1968-69. Rich with natural habitats for various kinds of birds, in the sanctuary one can find around 150 species of birds. One can watch for Red-vented Bulbul, Grey Hornbill, Owl, Paradise Fly Catcher. Panvel is also famous for Watermelon.

Two of the eight Ashtavinayak temples of the God Ganesha are close to Panvel, Ballaleshwar Pali and Varadavinayaka at Mahad (महड), near Khopoli, on the Old Mumbai-Pune Highway. It is different from Mahad (महाड).

Karjat, Karnala, Elephanta Caves, Haji Malang, Prabalgad, Toy Train famed Matheran, Murud-Janjira, Mahad (महाड) (Raigadh fort), Ballaleshwar Pali and Mahad (महड) - Ganesha: Two of the Ashtavinayak ganapati. Alibag: Sea beach, Phansad Wildlife Sanctuary, Ghadeshwar Dam.

Transport

Proposed Navi Mumbai International Airport

The new Navi Mumbai International Airport, which is to come up around the Panvel-Kopra area, would be built through public-private partnership (PPP) — with private sector partner getting 74% equity while Airport Authority of India (AAI) and Maharashtra government through City and Industrial Development Corporation or CIDCO) holding 13% each. The International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) has already given techno-feasibility clearance to the Navi Mumbai airport and central cabinet has cleared it. The project is at Global tendering stage.^[2]

Panvel Railway Station

Panvel railway station is one of the most important junctions on the Konkan Railway. Panvel Railway station comes under Mumbai Division of Central Railway. The station is technically divided into Suburban and Main Line. The Main line station is located at Chainage 68/5 from Mumbai CST, while the suburban station is at 48/9. There are a total of 7 platforms (4 suburban and 3 Main Line) while two more are being constructed.

Panvel happens to be the terminating station of Mumbai Railway's Harbour Line. Also, Konkan Railway connecting Mumbai to South India passes through Panvel Terminus. The station handles more than 30 pairs of freight trains each day. About 5 pairs of daily commuter (passenger) trains, and about 5 pairs of daily express trains stop here. In addition to this 5 pairs, about 11 pairs of non-daily trains including the Trivandrum Rajdhani also stop at this station. Panvel is a very major station and is considered equivalent to Mumbai for trains which skip Mumbai. The trains run on Diesel Traction and electricity (the tracks are not electrified to the south of Panvel), and Panvel is a refueling point for their locomotives.In addition to refueling, Panvel has a huge number of parcel bookings, and most trains stop for periods varying from 5 minutes to 20 minutes for technical purposes. Panvel also handles crew change for freight trains.

State Transport Buses (S.T.)

There are two main Bus stands in Panvel- Panvel State trasport (ST) stand on the national highway (NH 4) & railway station stand in front of the railway station. The one on the highway is among the busiest in the state and handles over 1500 ST buses every day, while the railway station bus stand handles only 200 NMMT buses per day mostly to other nodes in Navi Mumbai. There are about 20 other small bus stops in Panvel city.

References

1. ^ "Census of India 2001: Data from the 2001 Census, including cities, villages and towns (Provisional)". Census Commission of India. Archived from the original on 2004-06-16. http://web.archive.org/web/20040616075334/http://www.censusindia.net/results/town.php?stad=A&state5=999. Retrieved 2008-11-01. 
2. ^ http://cidcoindia.com/cidco/Globalrfp.aspx

External links

• The Gazetters Department: Panvel
• The Complete Rising Panvel.
• Local Guide to New Panvel. Very informative site. Includes Maps, YellowPages, Forum, Events, Photos, Polls, Clubs and More
• CST-Panvel Harbour Line Train timetable
• Garden Hotel - Government Approved Hotel in Panvel with 3 Star Amenities..

Panvel
Next station south: Khandeshwar	Mumbai Suburban Railway : Harbour Line			Next station north: Chikhale
	Stop No: 24	KM from starting: 49	Platforms: 7