Kharghar

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. Taloja is polluted due to the chemical industries present at the Taloja MIDC area.[2]

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.

Pandavkada Falls, situated in Kharghar.

Kharghar panorama from Pandavkada hills.

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. (which is now closed for residents to visit because of accidents caused like drowning of schools kids and due to unpredictable terrain both on mountains as well as underwater)

Exit sign for Kharghar on Sion Panvel Highway

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 (NIFT); 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, Yerala Medical Trust's College & Hospital & ITM Business School . Presence of these colleges makes Kharghar a youthful place. Kharghar has a large number of reputed high schools such as RYAN International School (ICSE & IGCSE), Apeejay, Greenfingers Global School, Radcliffe School, DAV, Sanjeevani International School and Balbharati Public School, Convent of Jesus and Mary High School and Junior College

Kharghar 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.[3] 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 (greenhouse).

View from cafeteria end overlooking the tee-off point of Kharghar Valley Golf Course

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.[4]

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, etc.

Pedestrian Skywalk at Kharghar

Kharghar Skywalk, Newly opened 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.[5]

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.[6]

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.[7]

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%

It is one of the most planned nodes 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.

Fountain in Artificial Pond of Central Park

Plan for Central Park – Kharghar, NaviMumbai.

The park occupies an area of 119 Ha. (approx.) spreading over into Sector 23, 24 & 25 in Kharghar. An area of 80 ha. (approx.) 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 (Cidco) 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[8] 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.

Cidco has planned a better version of Bandra-Kurla Complex (BKC) in Kharghar with a layered structure with a pyramid-shaped central hub of high rises. The new structure will encompass an area of 200 hectares factoring in the central park and golf course. The actual corporate hub will be on 125 hectares of land. Cidco has decided to have a layered structure with the outer fringe to be developed with 1-2 FSI while the core area will have 3 FSI. Around 50% of the area (120 hectares) has been set aside for the high rises with 3 FSI for the pyramid-shaped structure. Plots will be auctioned for corporates with the richer entities vying for the hub of the corporate park. Shops and commercial properties will also be developed so that there is night life unlike BKC. Proximity to the international airport and the metro project worth Rs 13,000 crore, will provide high class infra, Bhatia said. The entire Kharghar node along with nearby industrial Taloja will get connected to the new airport lending an opportunity for businesses to hop between work stations and the airport.[9]

In the vicinity of the Central Park there is Kharghar golf club. From the main road, a branch road is made around the 300 m periphery of the golf club and it terminates at the base of Kharghar hills. This small road is known as driving range. From here, there are pedestrian ways to climb on the hills around and enjoy the beauty of the landscapes. One can even go to the top most place in the hills around where there is a small village known as Chapewadi. The pedestrian path is not much easier there as one has to climb on steep slopes and requires help of a stick. It takes about 30-40 minutes time to reach up from where one can have a panoramic view of places around. Trekking is a popular activity here. Serious morning walkers come here for regular walks. During rainy season a lot of people from Kharghar and nearby areas visit here to enjoy the water falls and water in a river nearby. During summers these water falls and river dry up.[10][11]

The artificial lungs, called the lung billboard, were installed by a non-government organisation called the Waatavaran Foundation. A giant pair of artificial lungs fitted with filters and fans to mimic the human lungs, fitted in Navi Mumbai's Kharghar by an environmental organisation, started turning black within a day. [12]

• "Municipal Corporation of Panvel to come into effect from Oct 1 - Local Press Co". 28 September 2016.