Parsik Hill is a hill in the

Mumbai metropolitan area Mumbai Metropolitan Region (ISO: ''Muṁbaī Mahānagara Pradēśa''; abbreviated to MMR and previously also known as Greater Bombay Metropolitan Area), is a metropolitan area consisting of Mumbai and its satellite towns in the northern Konka ...

, in the

Thane Thane (; previously known as Thana, List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name until 1996) is a metropolitan city located on the northwestern side of the list of Indian states, state of Maharashtra in India and on ...

district of

Maharashtra Maharashtra () is a state in the western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. It is bordered by the Arabian Sea to the west, the Indian states of Karnataka and Goa to the south, Telangana to th ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

. It has a rail tunnel called Parsik tunnel. It is one of the longest and oldest tunnels in India and Asia.

Geography

The hill has wide ridge that runs north and south, paralleling the railway lines. The hill is approximately 15 square kilometres area of reserved forests, crossing into sections of both

and the north side of

Navi Mumbai Navi Mumbai (; also known as New Bombay, its official name until 1995) is a large city next to Mumbai, located in the Konkan division of the western Indian state of Maharashtra, on the mainland of India. Navi Mumbai is situated in Thane distr ...

, where quarrying has removed the trees from the hill. In 1985, the highest peak rose to . Also on the top of hill stands the official residence of the Mayor of

. Parsik's steep, scrub

grassland A grassland is an area where the vegetation is dominance (ecology), dominated by grasses (Poaceae). However, sedge (Cyperaceae) and rush (Juncaceae) can also be found along with variable proportions of legumes such as clover, and other Herbaceo ...

hills have featured in some

Bollywood movies Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, is primarily produced in Mumbai. The popular term Bollywood is a portmanteau of "Bombay" (former name of Mumbai) and "Cinema of the United States, Hollywood". The in ...

Ecological factors

Due to the impact of quarrying and illegal housing, there is concern about the extent to which the reserved forest will remain in years to come. An ecological activist comments: "The hill has a huge potential for eco-tourism, given that it runs through the municipal limits of Thane and Navi Mumbai and is about 30 minutes from

Mumbai Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial capital and the most populous city proper of India with an estimated population of 12 ...

. Besides trekking trails, there is also a rock-climbing centre in Mumbra." The ecological balances is also being unsettled by the number of people building and living in shanties in the forest, which could result in reduction or disappearance of species of

flora Flora (: floras or florae) is all the plant life present in a particular region or time, generally the naturally occurring (indigenous (ecology), indigenous) native plant, native plants. The corresponding term for animals is ''fauna'', and for f ...

and

fauna Fauna (: faunae or faunas) is all of the animal life present in a particular region or time. The corresponding terms for plants and fungi are ''flora'' and '' funga'', respectively. Flora, fauna, funga and other forms of life are collectively ...

, including more than 100 bird species.

Uses

Parsik Tunnel

The famous Parsik tunnel on - mainline lies in this hill. This tunnel is between and . Double

Broad gauge A broad-gauge railway is a railway with a track gauge (the distance between the rails) broader than the used by standard-gauge railways. Broad gauge of , more known as Russian gauge, is the dominant track gauge in former Soviet Union countries ...

track electrified passes though this tunnel. This reduced the distance between Thane and Diva to from formal . This tunnel is in length. This tunnel is one of the oldest tunnel in Asia.

Recreational area

It has been a favorite area for

hiker A hike is a long, vigorous walking, walk, usually on trails or footpaths in the countryside. Walking for pleasure developed in Europe during the eighteenth century. Long hikes as part of a religious pilgrimage have existed for a much longer tim ...

s and, since the 1960s, for

rock climber Rock climbing is a climbing sports discipline that involves ascending routes consisting of natural rock in an outdoor environment, or on artificial resin climbing walls in a mostly indoor environment. Routes are documented in guidebooks, and ...

s. Courses began to be conducted at Parsik Hills, having had a reputation as "some of the most interesting and convenient area for rock climbing", from the 1960s to 1980s by

Darjeeling Darjeeling (, , ) is a city in the northernmost region of the States and union territories of India, Indian state of West Bengal. Located in the Eastern Himalayas, it has an average elevation of . To the west of Darjeeling lies the Koshi Pr ...

Sherpa SHERPA (Securing a Hybrid Environment for Research Preservation and Access) is an organisation originally set up in 2002 to run and manage the SHERPA Project. History SHERPA began as an endeavour to support the establishment of a number of open ...

instructors. One of the noted instructors was

Nawang Gombu Nawang Gombu (1 May 1936 – 24 April 2011) was a Sherpa mountaineer who was the first man in the world to have climbed Mount Everest twice. Gombu was born in Minzu, Tibet and later became an Indian citizen, as did many of his relatives incl ...

. Rock climbers can complete advanced climbs in one half to one day. The area, most enjoyable in the winter or monsoon season, must be accessed by cutting through groups of illegal shanties, or hutments, that occupy the hill.

Quarrying

The area is losing its recreational appeal. About 9% of the top of the hill has been leveled due to

quarry A quarry is a type of open-pit mining, open-pit mine in which dimension stone, rock (geology), rock, construction aggregate, riprap, sand, gravel, or slate is excavated from the ground. The operation of quarries is regulated in some juri ...

ing, which is contracted to continue until about 2017. Material for general and road construction is created by blasting rock from the hill. It is estimated that at the present rate of excavation, 30% of the hill will have been removed or destroyed within that time.

Illegal housing

Thousands of shanties, especially along

Shil Phata Shil Phata or Shilphata is an area about south of Mumbra, in the Thane city of Maharashtra under Thane Municipal Corporation, India. Shil Phata is located east of Parsik Hills on the old Mumbai-Pune Road ( National Highway 4). It is a site o ...

Road, have been built to shelter otherwise homeless families; Forest officials were reported in 2012 to estimate 11,000 shelters were built in the forested land. About 100 unauthorized temples have also been built on the hill. Chief Conservator of the Forests, R K Pole, stated that there are periodic campaigns to remove the shanties in accordance with high court orders, but the net result is that there is little effort, whether through "lack of administrative will and indulgence from political parties", to properly protect the forest land. Deputy Conservator of the Forests, G T Chavan said that there were plans to better police and protect the land; "We will build a 50-km-long wall. We are working towards evicting the squatters."

Gavli Dev Water Fall

Gavli Dev
ref> water fall is a famous waterfall and Bird sanctuary of Navi Mumbai region based in between Mahape & Rabale area right behind Reliance Jio Park. The name Gavli Dev comes from the temple on the top of mountain also Gavli Dev & it is Lord Shivas temple without a roof. A lot of local people visit this area for annual puja & worship. A large gathering is observed on

Maha Shivaratri Maha Shivaratri is a Hindu festival celebrated annually to worship the deity Shiva, between February and March. According to the Hindu calendar, the festival is observed on the fourteenth day of the first half (night start with darkness - ...

day. The waterfall comes to Thane forest zone of Maharashtra forest department. This is a hidden Beauty of

Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation The Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation (NMMC) is the municipal organisation of Navi Mumbai, Maharashtra. On 17 December 1991 NMMC was constituted. NMMC came in to existence on January 1, 1992. Headquarters NMMC is considered one of the most ...

area. One can go off road a bit next to industrial area and find the Water fall an awesome picnic spot. In 2022 Municipal Corporation has undertaken this area to build it as a tourist spot.

Gallery

File:Navi Mumbai.jpg, View of

from Parsik Hill, including building on and beyond Palm Beach Road File:Radha Madan Mohan.jpg, Sri Sri Radha Madan Mohanji Ju at Gaudiya Vaishnava Association (GVA) Bhagavat Dham, Parsik Hill,

CBD Belapur The Central Business District of Belapur (C.B.D Belapur) is a large upmarket neighbourhood of Navi Mumbai. The Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation is headquartered in Belapur. Nature Belapur is surrounded by greenery and it is much more organi ...

, Navi Mumbai File:Parsikhill.jpg, Parsik Hill walkway