Kharghar
Kharghar is a node of Navi Mumbai smart city. It is situated at the Northernmost tip of Raigad district. It was developed by the City and Industrial Development Corporation i.e. CIDCO. Kharghar is located on the Sion Panvel Highway at one and half hour drive during peak traffic hours from the heart of Mumbai city.
The area started developing in 1995 and now is flourishing with large scale projects both in the commercial and residential segments. Kharghar is now administered by recently established Panvel Municipal Corporation. Shri Prashant Thakur, MLA represents Kharghar in State Legislative Assembly as part of Panvel constituency.
Introduction
Navi Mumbai is envisaged as a counter magnet to reduce the pressure on Mumbai Suburb. 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 with a combined population of four million and one million jobs. Kharghar is one of the 14 nodes and is being developed by CIDCO for an estimated population of about 50,000. Sale of alcohol and plastic bags is prohibited in Kharghar. Kharghar and Taloja are the most polluted areas due to the chemical industries present at the Taloja MIDC area.Location
Kharghar adjoins the Central Business District of Belapur in Navi Mumbai and is bound by two major highways and the Kharghar Hills. The Taloja industrial estate and Taloja creek are located on the east. Kharghar is primarily a residential township, but also has some educational institutions.Characteristics
Kharghar measures about 1700 ha, 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 36 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. Kharghar hills bring a huge amount of rainwater, which is directed into the creek through the node as well as the Central Park area.Infrastructure
For building a self-sustaining education ecosystem for continued growth Kharghar is coming to be known as the education capital of Navi Mumbai. It has become a world-class education hub, renowned for its intellectual capital and creative energy”: While this vision may seem highly ambitious for the node but Kharghar has proven that it has what it takes to make the vision a reality. Kharghar is home to the prestigious National Institute of Fashion Technology ; it was shifted to Kharghar from Dadar in 2002-03. NIFT offers undergraduate courses in fashion design, fashion communication, apparel manufacturing and information technology as well as postgraduate courses in fashion management and fashion design space. Apart from NIFT, Kharghar accommodates many other reputed colleges, including the Institute for Technology & Management, Global Aviation Academy, Bharati Vidyapeeth College of Engineering, Bharati Vidyapeeth College of Architecture, Annasaheb Chudaman Patil College of Engineering, Saraswati College of Engineering and Yerala Medical Trust's College & Hospital. Presence of these colleges makes Kharghar a youthful place. Kharghar has a large number of reputed high schools such as RYAN International School, , Greenfingers Global School, , DAV, and , Convent of Jesus and Mary High School and Junior CollegeKharghar has a number of ready and under-construction projects both in the commercial and residential segments. The 10-storey office building of Siemens India Ltd. near Kharghar railway station is the oldest commercial structure. Kendriya Vihar and CIDCO built Gharkul Mass Housing Scheme are two of the oldest and the biggest residential complexes of Kharghar. CIDCO has also built one of the newest residential spaces Valley Shilp & Swapnapurti in Sector 36, Kharghar. Some of the prestigious residential buildings are Kesar Harmony, Regency park, Hyde Park, Goodwill Paradise, Keystone Elite, Balaji Residency, Hiranandai Crystal Court and Patel Heritage. Navi Mumbai's tallest building Samyama City with 65 stories is planned in sector 36 in Kharghar. The Indian Armed Forces has two residential enclaves – Jalvayu Vihar and Raghunath Vihar. The Advanced Centre for Treatment, Research and Education in Cancer located in Sector 22 is a state-of-the-art R&D satellite of the Tata Memorial Centre, which also includes under its umbrella the Tata Memorial Hospital, the largest cancer hospital in Asia.
CIDCO has also built an 18-hole golf course opposite Central Park in Kharghar along with shopping malls. The Central Park in Sector 23 is sprawling across 80 hectares and cover three sectors. It has a jogger's track, food courts, fountains, botanical gardens, amphitheater, theme parks and conservatory.
ISKCON has commenced construction of its temple at the entrance to Central Park. It is believed this will be the biggest ISKCON temple in India. Sector 12 also has a park called "Krantiveer Phadke Garden". Sector-20 also has a CIDCO park for morning joggers, senior citizens, and children.
Currently, Kharghar has two malls with multiplex movie screens. The first one is located at Little World Mall and the second at Glomax Mall. A few movie screens with limited seats are also available at Tiara complex near Raghunath Vihar. There are retail brands like DMart in Sector-15, Reliance Fresh at Sec-19, Star Daily at Sec-20, and More at Little World mall. There are adequate utility shops, departmental stores, and supermarkets in every sector. Sector-7, Hiranandani is famous among young teenagers, students, and office workers due to the presence of a large number of fast-food shops, cafes, and etc.
Pedestrian Skywalk at Kharghar
CIDCO has constructed a skywalk to facilitate hindrance free movement between Kharghar railway station and the city node. This skywalk spans across the Sion-Panvel national highway with cable suspension bridge resting on 41 m tall pylon. The total length of the skywalk is 1780 m which makes it one of India's longest skywalk. It has an open type escalator in the entrance foyer portion of Kharghar railway station with a ramp for alighting. The skywalk runs parallel to the highway between Bharati Vidyapeeth up to the entrance of Pravesh Marg and then towards Utsav Chowk. There is also a NIFT college stop in between.Transportation
Rail
Kharghar is located on the outskirts of Mumbai. It falls in Raigad district. Kharghar railway station lies on Central Railway's Harbour line, a part of Mumbai's suburban railway network. It takes about 65 minutes to reach Kharghar by train from Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus.Trains are also available to travel Kharghar to Thane & Andheri
Road
A drive by road from Chatrapati Shivaji Terminus takes about 60 minutes via the Eastern Freeway. Lokmanya Tilak Terminus, another important Railway Station is also 45 minutes drive by road from Kharghar via the Santacruz - Chembur Link Road. The six lane Mumbai-Pune Expressway starts at Kalamboli. The place is easily approachable from Pune and the other major cities of the state like Thane, Kalyan, Nashik etc. Within the suburbs, NMMT buses are available frequently between stations, nodes and within sectors. NMMT buses are available from Kharghar to Vashi, Chembur, Sion, Dadar, Thane, Panvel, Uran and Taloja. NMMT runs their AC Volvo buses from Kharghar to Dadar, Borivali and Cuff Parade. BEST buses are also available from Kharghar to Vashi, Sion, Dadar and Ghatkopar.| BEST / NMMT | Route No. | Route | |
| BEST | 504 | Wadala Depot to Jalvayu Vihar | |
| BEST | C-53 | Ghatkopar Depot to Kalamboli Bus Stn | |
| NMMT | 24 | New Panvel Rly Stn to Thane Rly Stn | |
| NMMT | 30 | Kalamboli Bus Stn to Uran | |
| NMMT | 45 | CBD Belapur Rly Stn to Vastu Vihar | |
| NMMT | 50 | Kopar Khairane Bus Stn to Panvel Rly Stn | |
| NMMT | 52 | CBD Belapur Rly Stn to Pethali Village Via Kharghar | |
| NMMT | 53 | Kharghar Rly Stn to Kharghar Sector 27 | |
| NMMT | 54 | Kharghar Rly Stn to RAF Colony | |
| NMMT | 55 | Ghansoli Depot to Pethali Village Via Kharghar | |
| NMMT | 71 | CBD Belapur Stn to Kalyan Rly Stn Via Taloja MIDC | |
| NMMT | 103 | Panvel Rly Stn to Dadar | |
| NMMT | AC 103 | Panvel Rly Stn to Dadar | |
| NMMT | AC 110 | Jalvayu Vihar to World Trade Centre Via Eastern Freeway | |
| NMMT | AC 123 | Jalvayu Vihar to Borivali Rly Stn | |
| NMMT | AC 125 | Jalvayu Vihar to Borivali Rly Stn Via Eastern Express Highway | |
| KMT | Vashi Bus Stn to Khopoli Via Panvel |
Private cars and two wheelers continue to serve as the prime means of transport. Private taxis offer services from Kharghar to other parts of Navi Mumbai and Mumbai.
Navi Mumbai Metro
The first phase of Navi Mumbai Metro will be from "Belapur" to "Pendhar" via "Kharghar". The planning and construction of the Navi Mumbai Metro is being overseen by CIDCO. The foundation stone for the project was laid on 1 May 2011 and the project was expected to be operational from end of year 2017.Navi Mumbai International Airport
The proposed new Navi Mumbai International Airport was initially expected to be operational by 2019 in the Kopra area between Khandeshwar and Kamothe. This was passed by CIDCO on August 1, 2009. Despite getting environmental clearance from the Centre almost three years ago, the project was stuck due to protracted negotiations with farmers who wanted a compensation package of Rs 20 crore per hectare or 35 per cent of the land bank as a developed plot.The project, which will come up on 1,160 hectares of land, will be built in four phases. The first phase with an annual capacity of 10 million passengers will be completed by 2018. After the completion of the whole project, it will cater to about 60 million passengers a year.
The affected villagers will mostly be rehabilitated in a new township called Pushpak Nagar and in Wadghar and Wahal villages around the project area. Under the project plan, the rare island village of Waghivali in Panvel creek will be converted into a mangrove lagoon and its ecology will be maintained.
Land use distribution
The land use 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 - 10.85 ha 21.0%
- Circulation - 4.41 ha 3.5%
- Total - 119.77 ha 100.0%
Site for Central Park
The park occupies an area of 119 Ha. spreading over into Sector 23, 24 & 25 in Kharghar. An area of 80 ha. 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 Panvel will soon be up for grabs. The
City and Industrial Development Corporation will hold a global auction with a reserve price of Rs 2,000 crore to
create a themecum-entertainment city on the lines of Hollywood, Disneyland and Sentosa park in Singapore.
Since its inauguration, the Central Park at Kharghar, is the center of recreational activities for people in Kharghar as well as others. For safety purpose there is four CCTVs at the Central Park, which will keep 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. He added that the cameras have been operational for a week.