Thane


Thane is a city in western India, in the state of Maharashtra. It neighbours Mumbai and is part of the Mumbai Metropolitan Region. It is situated in the north-east of Salsette Island.
Thane serves as the headquarters of the Thane district and is located inside Thane taluka. It is the 15th most populous city in India, with a population of 1,890,000 according to the 2011 census.

Etymology and other names

The ancient name of Thana was. It appears as in early medieval Arab sources.
The name Thane has been variously romanised as Tana, Thana, Thâṇâ, and Thame. Ibn Battuta and Abulfeda knew it as KukinTana, while Duarte Barbosa knew it as TanaMayambu. Before 1996, the city was called Thana, the British spelling of the city.

History

Thane emerged as an urban area during the reign of the Shilahara dynasty, which ruled north Konkan during 800-1265 CE. It was variously known as Srī-sthānaka, Sthānaka, or Srī-sthāna. The 1053 CE Chinchani inscription of Vija-ranaka of the Modha family states that brahmanas from Srī-sthāna settled at Samyana in his territory. A 1094 CE Shilahara inscription refers to Srī-sthānaka as a velakula, that is, a harbour that was an important centre for import and export.
Thane is mentioned in the Mahikavatichi Bakhar, a 15th-17th century Marathi language historical chronicle of doubtful accuracy. According to the text, Prince Pratap Bimb, the brother of Champaner's king Govardhan Bimb, established a new kingdom by conquering territories in the Konkan region. In the 12th century, his general Balkrishn-rao Somvanshi captured Thane from the Shilahara king Yashwant-rao, and went on to conquer the surrounding territories. In the 13th century, Nagar-shah - the ruler of Ghandivi - captured the area. His relatives demanded control of three villages - Malad, Marol and Thane - as a reward for their good performance in this military campaign. When Nagar-shah refused their demand, they allied with the imperial Yadavas of Devagiri. The area subsequently came under the control of the Yadava prince Bimb-dev, before Nagarshah regained control of it as a vassal of the Delhi Sultanate. Subsequently, the area was successively ruled by some local families, the Muzaffarids of Gujarat, and the Portuguese.
The Thane area was contested between the Portuguese, the Mughals and the Marathas in the 17th century, with Shivaji capturing it from the Mughals in 1675. Later, the Portuguese regained control of Thane, and started building a fort there in 1734, but the Marathas captured it in 1737. The East India Company occupied Salsette Island, Thana Fort, Fort Versova and the island fort of Karanja at the start of the First Anglo-Maratha War. After a short period of time, the island was recaptured by the forces of Haripant Phadke and Tukoji Holkar. After the signing of the Treaty of Salbai, both Thana Fort and the island of Salsette were under the control of the British.

Geography

Climate

Thane has a tropical monsoon climate that borders on a tropical wet and dry climate. The overall climate is stable with high rainfall days and minimal days of extreme temperatures.
Temperature in Thane varies from 22 °C to 36 °C, with winter temperatures as low as 12 °C at night, and summer temperatures reaching 40 °C at noon. Lowest daytime temperatures are typically during the summer monsoon peak in July and August, when temperatures can plummet to 25 °C. Around 80% of the total annual rainfall is concentrated in June to October. The average annual rainfall is recorded at 2000–2500mm, and the humidity level ranges from 61% to 86%, rendering the area a humid zone.
Thane has been ranked 12th best "National Clean Air City" in India according to the Swachh Vayu Survekshan 2024 results.

Lakes

Demographics

The population of Thane according to the 2011 census is 1,886,941 people. The literacy percentage is 91.36%, with male literacy at 94.19% and female literacy at 88.14%. The sex ratio of Thane city is 882 females per 1000 males. Child sex ratio is 900 girls per 1000 boys. Total children in Thane city are 186,259 as per India's 2011 census. Children account for 10.24% of the total population of Thane.
The primary language spoken in Thane is Marathi, with widespread understanding and usage of Hindi. Some of the East Indian families in the Khatri ward of Thane still speak Portuguese. About 1,800 of India's approximately 5,000 Jews live in Thane.
At the time of the 2011 census, 48.50% of the population spoke Marathi, 19.59% Hindi, 12.99% Urdu, 3.93% Gujarati, 2.44% Bhojpuri, 1.37% Kannada, 1.29% Malayalam, 1.21% Bengali, 1.15% Tamil, 1.14% Marwari and 0.94% Konkani as their first language.

Sports

Cricket is the most popular sport in Thane. Thane is under the jurisdiction of the Mumbai Cricket Association, the governing body for cricket in Mumbai. Its players play for the Mumbai cricket team in Indian domestic cricket.

Transport

Railways

was the terminus for the first ever passenger train in Asia. On 16 April 1853, the passenger train service was inaugurated between Bori Bunder and Thane. Covering a distance of 34 km, it was hauled by three locomotives: Sahib, Sindh and Sultan. The Thane viaducts, the first railway bridges, were built over the Thane creek when the Mumbai-Thane line was extended to Kalyan in May 1854.
Thane is connected with neighbouring suburbs through the Central and Trans-Harbour Line Suburban railway network. Thane is a railway junction for the Thane-Vashi & Panvel Harbour Line and Central Line. It is one of the busiest stations in India and handles 654,000 passengers daily.

Metro

As of January 2021, the MMRDA, the nodal agency for building 300 km of vast Metro network, has proposed a plan to build an elevated depot for three Metro lines : 4, 4A, 10 and 11 at one stop. This depot is proposed to be at Mogharpada, Thane. The total project cost is estimated to be ₹ 596.60 crore.
On 26 August 2015, the MMRDA sanctioned ₹354 billion for 118 km Mumbai metro network. This includes a 40-km Wadala-Ghatkopar-Thane-Kasarvadavali Metro-4 corridor via Wadala GPO and R.A.Kidwai Marg costing ₹120 billion.
As of 2019, a metro line is being built between Wadala and Thane.
On 16 August 2024, the Union Government gave its approval for Thane Metro, a 29 km ring metro project. It will have 22 stations, and is expected to open in 2029. The project will be executed by Maha Metro.

Thane Municipal Transport (TMT)

Thane Municipal Corporation started its transport service on 9 February 1989, known as Thane Municipal Transport. TMT provides services in Thane city and suburbs like Mulund, Borivali, Mira Road, Nala Sopara, Vasai, Bhiwandi and Navi Mumbai, among others.
Number of —Details
Buses299
Routes45
Depots
  1. Anand Nagar
  2. Kalwa Depot
  3. Kolshet Depot
  4. Mulla Bagh Depot
  5. Wagle Estate Depot
Bus stands8
Bus stops874
km travelled per day63,135
Daily bus trips7,114
Daily passengers280,017
Daily income₹1,388,547/-
km travelled per day per bus211
Employees2,558

Navi Mumbai Municipal Transport (NMMT)

Navi Mumbai Municipal Transport operates AC and Non-AC buses from Thane Cidco Bus Stand to various parts of Navi Mumbai, as well as to Purna and Bhiwandi.

Mira Bhayandar Municipal Transport (MBMT)

Mira-Bhayandar Municipal Transport started in 2006. The buses start from Dahisar Check naka towards Versova Check naka. MBMT has started new services to Thane City from January 2010.
RouteRoute NoStartingDestination Route Description
Ordinary7Bhayander Railway Station Ghodbunder VillageKashimira
Limited10 LTDBhayander Railway Station Thane Railway Station Ghodbunder Road
Ordinary29Mira Road Railway StationMarathon Chowk Ghodbunder Road

Vasai-Virar Municipal Transport (VVMT)

Vasai Virar Municipal Transport operates two routes in Thane. One from Vasai to Mulund Via Thane/Ghodbunder road and another from Nala Sopara to Thane Kopri.

Future of transport in Thane

A light rail network covering 42 km has been proposed in three phases. In the first phase, consultants have suggested connectivity between Balkum and Kolshet via Naupada. It will be 16.05 km long with 11 stations in total.

Education

Schools