Karjat

Karjat कर्जत
City
Karjat
Coordinates: 18°55′00″N 73°19′48″E / 18.9167°N 73.33°E / 18.9167; 73.33Coordinates: 18°55′00″N 73°19′48″E / 18.9167°N 73.33°E / 18.9167; 73.33
Country	India
State	Maharashtra
District	Raigad
Elevation	194 m (636 ft)
Population (2015)
• Total	38,518
Marathi, Hindi
• Official	Marathi
Time zone	IST (UTC+5:30)
PIN	410201
Telephone code	00-91-2148
Vehicle registration	MH-46 , MH-06

Karjat is a city, a Municipal Council, a Tahsil and a sub-district in Raigad district in the Indian state of Maharashtra. Karjat is also a part of a Mumbai Metropolitan City. It is a rapidly developing city of a Raigad district which is well connected to the Panvel, Mumbai, Thane and Pune. There are Engineering, Medical, Pharmacy, Agriculture, and many educational institutes are present in a Karjat.

Geography

Karjat is located at 18°55′N 73°20′E / 18.91°N 73.33°E / 18.91; 73.33,^[1] and has a population of 2,17,363. It is located on Bhor ghat, Sahyadri, Western Ghats as well as at the end of coastal plains of Konkan region near Deccan. It has an average elevation of 194 metres (636 ft). It lies on the banks of the River Ulhas.The Karjat city is virtually divided into two areas, "East" and "West", by the railway.

Economy

Tourism, Adventure Sports, Higher Education, Film Shooting, Retailing, Nurseries & Plantation and Spa Hospitality are the main occupations. Karjat is a tahsil/taluk in Maharashtra and is situated in the Asthavinayak Ganesha belt region. As Karjat is a part of Mumbai metropolitan area, MMRDA has cleared Karjat for advanced Urban Planning with minimum FSI of 1.0. and CIDCO is being entrusted with town planning and implementation. New Housing policy has removed many procedural hurdles, which will facilitate ultra-modern urbanisation of the area.^[2] 100 acres (0.40 km²) townships are being developed under MMRDA Special Township provisions of Maharashtra Regional and Town Planning Act, amended in year 2007 and also under Special Township Projects under section 63-I(A) of the Mumbai Tenancy & Agricultural Lands Act providing for automatic Non-Agricultural conversion of land of 100 acres/40 Hectares.

Karjat has engineering, pharmacy, medical, management, advertising, hospitality colleges and also a Mass Media Advertising Institutes (AICAR) affiliated to the AICTE & University of Mumbai and also a few other graduation colleges and Oxford Schools. It has several tourist attractions including Palasdari, Matheran, Khandala, Bhimashankar, Malshej Ghat, Lonavla, etc.

Karjat, Maharashtra

Transport

Air:

The nearest airport is Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport and the Navi Mumbai International Airport (under Construction).

Rail:

Karjat railway station is a major rail terminus, connected via local trains to Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus Mumbai, Khopoli and Panvel. It is well connected to Mumbai via Mumbai Local Trains. The fast local train takes 1 Hour 40 minutes to reach Mumbai and slow local trains takes 2 hr to reach at Mumbai. All the express trains going towards Pune take stop of 10 minutes at Karjat station. Karjat is about 100 km from Mumbai and 92 km from Pune.

Road:

A signage at Karjat railway station.

It is well connected to Mumbai-Pune express highway, Mumbai-Goa Highway, Mumbai-Nasik Highway, and state highways which are Karjat-Kalyan Highway, Karjat-Murbad Highway and Raigad District, Kharghar are well connected. The under construction sea over bridge, trans-harbour link between Sewri, Mumbai and Navi Mumbai will cut the distance between the two cities further and offer faster connectivity to Karjat also. Its proximity to many industries and holiday spots with good connectivity has made it a unique city in India.

Sea:

The Nhava Sheva JNPT Port is the nearest seaport.

Karjat is accessible via following highways:

• Mumbai-Pune Expressway
• NH 17
• NH 4
• NH 3
• MH SH 35
• MH SH 38
• NH 4B
• NH 222 via Murbad for Ahmednagar
• Golden Quadrilateral
• Hall-Phata (Karjat could be entered also from Junction of Old Pune-Mumbai highway & Karjat State Highway near Khopoli)
• Karjat-Khopoli-Pen Road
• Ale-Phata junction via Murbad/Malshej
• Chauk-Dand-Phata or Palaspe-Phata to Apta-Phata from Goa Road or via Panvel or Khopoli/Pali
• Sewri-Navi Mumbai Sea Link Expressway (under construction)
• NH 8 via Murbad-Wada/Dahanu or Kalyan/Bhiwandi
• Proposed Chakan-Bhimashankar-Karjat Highway

Karjat has a bus terminal near railway station in Bhisegaon. It is well connected to other cities in and around state by Maharashtra state owned passenger buses. Many privately owned buses also provide transport service between Karjat and neighboring cities, including Mumbai and Panavel. Private taxis are also available near station.

Tourism

Karjat is a preferred spot for weekend holidays, picnics, river rafting, trekking, hiking, and mountain climbing. It is a favored destination during rainy season.

Many farm houses and residential colonies are situated here with all civil amenities and a municipal corporation. People from Mumbai, Navi Mumbai, Thane and Pune have second or weekend homes here and regularly celebrate festivals, new year parties, or weekend bash here. It is also popular for pleasure visits during the monsoon season. Distance from Chembur to Karjat is 64 kilometres and from Sion it is 66 kilometres. Karjat has an advanced bio-tech institute which has been developing patented hybrid varieties of rice of international repute, apart from other crops and techniques.

ND Studios in Karjat

Noted production designer Nitin Chandrakant Desai's "ND Studios" established in 2005,^[3] is a major stopover attraction for Karjat tourists and films are shot here. White Feather Films is also setting up a new studio here. Hollywood production companies such as Twentieth Century Fox, Walt Disney and DreamWorks (with Reliance Big Studio) are setting up mega studios and production facilities here. The Academy Award winning movie Slumdog Millionaire was shot here.

Karjat has got one of the largest chain of Farm Houses in Asia.

Karjat is also a trekking destination: it offers plenty of trails, ranging from medium to very demanding. The undulating hilly terrain and lofty slopes make it an ideal spot for trekking enthusiasts. The three prominent trekking trails lead to Matheran via Rambagh point, Peth Fort, and Chanderi Fort.

It's possible to go for white water rafting during the monsoon, on the upper sections of the Ulhas River. Kondana Village, 15 km from Karjat, is the put-in point. The best time go rafting is July to September, and the nerve-tingling rafting adventure highly depends on the rainfall.

Some of the other attractions in Karjat include:

Ulhas Valley

This valley glitters with large flowing streams of Ulhas river. It offers breathtaking sights during the monsoons, when the water falls gush through the thick greenery of the valley. There are a number of tunnels in the Ulhas valley, which helps the trains to pass through the valley.

Bhor Ghat

This ghat has a historical significance. It was the ancient trade route connecting the ports at Choul, Revdanda, Panvel, etc. on the Konkan coast and the hinterland on the Deccan plateau.

Kondave Buddhist caves, Karjat

Kondana Caves

These caves are famous because of their Buddhist style .These caves offer an ancient lifestyle of Buddhist followers. There are many sculptures and stupas which are the architecture of the ancient Buddhist period. There is also waterfall near by caves.

Peth Fort

This fort is also known as the Kotligad. This fort is conical in shape and gives an amazing view of the foothills. This fort is placed on the back of the Western ghats and Matheran ranges.

MMRDA has planned to develop a part of area in Karjat-Khopoli belt as Recreational Hub. On the horizon are a Twenty20 league ground, a Paint Ball Park, Theme Parks, Amusement Park, Golf Course and other recreation facilities. Greg Norman's 27-36 Hole Super Championship Golf Course is also located in Karjat.

Matheran Range

The Matheran Range starts at Haji Malang in the north-north-west, continues to Tavli in the north, and then runs south and finally terminates at Bhivpuri Road Hill. Strictly speaking, this range is not a part of the Sahyadris, but rather runs parallel to the Karjat-Mumbai railway line to its east. The Sahyadris proper run parallel to the same railway line, but to its east.

Educational institutes

The city is famous for education. Many students from the city have been listed in SSC and HSC merit lists. Every year students from Badlapur attend higher education intechnology, medicine and many other fields at Mumbai University. The city has many fine schools that teach in Marathi and English. There are two colleges affiliated to theUniversity of Mumbai. Recently. Due to its proximity to Mumbai and Pune, Karjat has also become an educational hub with several institutes of higher education being located here:

1. Konkan Gyanpeeth Rahul Dharkar College of Pharmacy & Research Institute
2. Dr. V.D. Pethe English Medium School
3. Konkan Gyanpeeth College of Engineering (360 seats)
4. Asian Institute of Communication and Research AICAR Business School
5. Biotech Research Institute
6. Dhirubhai Ambani School Lodhivali CBSE
7. Engineering Institute of Bhivpuri
8. Christian Bible College, Vishwanagar
9. HOC Pillai International School
10. Agricultural College
11. L & T Construction Skills Training Institute
12. ONGC Kendriya Vidyalaya CBSE
13. Indian Institute of Geomagnetism
14. Medicinal Plants Institute
15. Yadhavrao Tasgaonkar Institute of Technology
16. Mahatma Gandhi Memorial MGM Medical University
17. Tasgaonkar Institute of Pharmacy
18. Dnyananubhav Vidyalaya, Kashele
19. Hybrid Rice Research Institute
20. Tops Security Men Training Institute
21. Tata Cancer Medical Institute and Research
22. Magic Bus Rock Climbing Centre
23. Vocational Training Institute
24. Saraswati Institute of Management & Research
25. Aptech Arena Residential Training Centre
26. Institute of Intelligence & Security Management (IISM)
27. Puppetry Training Institute
28. SeaRock Cruise Academy
29. Pillai's Mahatma Education Complex
30. Healis – Sekhsaria Institute For Tobacco Cancer Oncology
31. Academy of Development Science
32. Konkan Gyanpeeth Karjat College of Arts, Commerce & Science
33. Universal Business School
34. Cardiff Metropolitan University
35. Karjat Ibsar Management Institute
36. Anglo Eastern Maritime Academy

Land-revenue blocks in Karjat

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Karjat.

• Karjat, Government of Maharashtra