Thane (; also known as Thana, the official name until 1996) is a metropolitan city in

Maharashtra Maharashtra (; , abbr. MH or Maha) is a states and union territories of India, state in the western India, western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. Maharashtra is the List of states and union te ...

, India. It is situated in the north-eastern portion of the Salsette Island. Thane city is entirely within Thane taluka, one of the seven talukas of Thane district; also, it is the headquarters of the namesake district. With a population of 1,841,488 distributed over a land area of about , Thane city is the 15th most populated city in India with a population of 1,890,000 according to the 2011 census. Located on the northwestern side of the state of

, the city is an immediate neighbour of Mumbai city and a part of the Mumbai Metropolitan Region.

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 Abu Abdullah Muhammad ibn Battutah (, ; 24 February 13041368/1369),; fully: ; Arabic: commonly known as Ibn Battuta, was a Berbers, Berber Maghrebi people, Maghrebi scholar and explorer who travelled extensively in the lands of Afro-Eurasia, ...

and Abulfeda knew it as KukinTana; Duarte Barbosa as TanaMayambu. Before

1996 File:1996 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: A Centennial Olympic Park bombing, bomb explodes at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, set off by a radical Anti-abortion violence, anti-abortionist; The center fuel tank explodes on TWA Flight 8 ...

, the city was called 'Thana', the British spelling of the city, until it was replaced with the more-local name.

History

A copper plate dating to AD 1078 was discovered near the foundations of Thane Fort in 1787. A land grant from Arikesara Devaraja, lord of Tagara, wherein he addresses the inhabitants of a city called "Sri Sthanaka". for a long time it was military training and recruitment center of Maratha empire British occupied Salsette Island, Thana Fort, Fort Versova and the island fort of Karanja in start of First Anglo-Maratha War but after short time it were recaptured by forces of Haripant Phadke and Tukoji Holkar it remained under control of Maratha empire until Second Anglo-Maratha War

Transport

Railways

Thana was the terminus for the first ever

passenger train A passenger train is a train used to transport people along a railroad line. These trains may consist of unpowered passenger railroad cars (also known as coaches or carriages) hauled by one or more locomotives, or may be self-propelled; self pr ...

in Asia. On 16 April 1853, the

service was inaugurated between Bori Bunder (Bombay) and Thane. Covering a distance of 34 km (21 mi), it was hauled by three locomotives: ''Sahib'', ''Sindh'' and ''Sultan''. Thane is connected with neighbouring suburbs through

Central Central is an adjective usually referring to being in the center of some place or (mathematical) object. Central may also refer to: Directions and generalised locations * Central Africa, a region in the centre of Africa continent, also known as ...

and

Trans-Harbour Line The Trans-Harbour line is the link Harbour line (Mumbai Suburban Railway), Harbour line of the Mumbai Suburban Railway connects between Navi Mumbai and Thane Operates by Central Railway Zone, Central Railway. Its Termini are , , and on the Th ...

Suburban A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area, which may include commercial and mixed-use, that is primarily a residential area. A suburb can exist either as part of a larger city/urban area or as a separate ...

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 2019, Wadala and Thane are being connected through a Metro line. On 26 August 2015, the MMRDA sanctioned ₹354 billion for 118 km Mumbai metro network. This includes a 40-km Wadala-

Ghatkopar Ghatkopar (Pronunciation: �ʱaːʈkopəɾ is a suburb in eastern Mumbai. The area is served by the railway station on the Central Line of the Mumbai Suburban Railway and the metro station on Line 1 of the Mumbai Metro. History Ghatkopar in ...

-Thane-Kasarvadavali Metro-4 corridor via Wadala GPO and R.A.Kidwai Marg costing ₹120 billion. 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 (Wadala-Thane-Kasarvadavali), 4A (Kasarvadavali-Gaimukh), 10 (Gaimukh-Shivaji Nagar) and 11 (Wadala-General Post Office, CSMT) at one stop. This depot is proposed at Mogharpada, Thane. The total project cost is estimated to be ₹ 596.60 crore.

Thane Municipal Transport (TMT)

Thane Municipal Corporation started its own transport service on 9 February 1989, known as Thane Municipal Transport (TMT). TMT provides services the city interior and Mumbai suburbs like Mulund,

Andheri Andheri ( �n̪d̪ʱeɾiː is a locality in the western part of the city of Mumbai in India. Udayanagari, the name of a hill near the Mahakali caves, inspired the name Andheri. On the former islet of Versova, also known as Vasave, there was ano ...

, Mira road, Nala Sopara,

Bhiwandi Bhiwandi () is a city in the Thane district in Maharashtra, India. It is located northeast of Mumbai and northeast of the city of Thane. The city is a part of the Mumbai Metropolitan Region. Bhiwandi is a commercial city and a major trade ce ...

, Vasai, Virar, Borivali, Vashi,

Airoli Airoli (Marathi pronunciation: �iɾoliː is a residential and commercial area of Navi Mumbai in the Indian state of Maharashtra. The name Airoli Node is derived from Airoli-Diva Gaon the largest village prominent in the node node. It is a p ...

, Dadar,

Bandra Bandra (Indian English, æːɳɖɾa also known as Vandre (Help:IPA/Marathi, �aːn̪d̪ɾe is an upscale coastal suburb located in Mumbai (Bombay) area of the Konkan division, Maharashtra, India. The suburb is located to the immediate nor ...

, BKC, Bhayandar, Kalyan, and Panvel, among others.

Navi Mumbai Municipal Transport (NMMT)

Navi Mumbai Municipal Transport (NMMT) ply in direction towards Vashi and Navi Mumbai. It goes through

, Turbe etc. Most of NMMT buses ply in Thane from the Kalwa area. NMMT connects city of Thane to various parts of Navi Mumbai. NMMT operates buses to

Rabale Rabale is a residential area located between the suburbs of Airoli and Ghansoli on the Thane-Belapur road in Navi Mumbai. Rabale Area is well known for the Rabale MIDC area which houses many manufacturing units. Rabale railway station is situa ...

, Mahape, Panvel, Vashi, Ghansoli,

Nerul Nerul (Pronunciation: eɾuːɭ is an upmarket residential and commercial node in Navi Mumbai, Maharashtra, India. Nerul is located in the Harbour Line, Trans-Harbour Lines and Nerul-Uran Line of Mumbai local train network where Kharghar a ...

, CBD Belapur etc.

Mira Bhayandar Municipal Transport (MBMT)

Mira-Bhayandar Municipal Transport (MBMT) started from 2006. The buses ply from Dahisar Check naka towards Versova haneCheck naka. So till now majority of MBMT buses can be taken up at the Check naka only. MBMT has started new services to Thane City from January 2010.

Vasai-Virar Municipal Transport (VVMT)

VVMT is the newest public transport, operational from October 2013. The area of Thane City was connected to the Vasai & Virar by the VVMT.

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 14.65 km elevated, and only 1.4 km on the surface, and 11 stations in all.

Geography

Climate

Thane has a tropical monsoon climate that borders on a tropical wet and dry climate. The overall climate is equable with high rainfall days and very few days of extreme temperatures. In Thane, temperature varies from 22 °C to 36 °C. Winter temperatures can fall to 12 °C at night while summer temperatures can rise to over 40 °C at noon. The lowest daytime temperatures are witnessed during the peak of the summer monsoon in July and August when temperatures can drop to about 25 °C. Out of total rainfall, 80% rainfall is experienced during June to October. Average annual rainfall is 2000–2500 mm and humidity is 61–86%, making it a humid zone. Thana district Places of Interest 1896 map

Thana district Places of Interest 1896 map

Demographics

The population of Thane according to the 2011 census is 1,886,941. The average literacy rate of Thane city is 91.36 percent for where male and female literacy was 94.19 and 88.14 percent respectively. The sex ratio of Thane city is 882 females per 1000 males. Child sex ratio is 900 girls per 1000 boys. Total children (0–6) in Thane city are 186,259 as per Census India report on 2011. There were 98,017 boys while 88,242 are girls. Children form 10.24% of total population of Thane City. The dominant language spoken in Thane is Marathi. Around 70% of population speaks Marathi. 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.

Lakes

Education

Schools

D.A.V. Public School The D.B.V. College Managing Committee, familiarly known as DAVDholakpurMC, is a non-governmental educational organisation in Antarctica and overseas with over 900 schools. 75 colleges and a university. It is based on the ideals of Maharishi Da ...

Hiranandani Foundation School Hiranandani Foundation Schools are a group of schools founded by Lakhumal Hiranand Hiranandani for use by the residents of the housing complexes built by Hiranandani. Both are ICSE schools having classes from nursery to tenth grade. The group ...

* Holy Cross Convent High School * Little Flower High School, Thane * New Horizon Scholars School, Thane *

Podar International School Podar International School is a group of schools that is a part of the Podar Group of Schools, Podar Education Network that was established in 1927 by Sheth Anandilal Podar, with Mahatma Gandhi as the first President of the trust. The group is ...

S.E.S. High School and Junior College Saraswati Education Society's High School and Junior College, more commonly known as SES High School, is one of the oldest educational institutions in Thane city of India, located at Panchpakhadi, teaching pre-primary (Jr and Sr Kg), primary ( ...

* Smt. Sulochanadevi Singhania School * Sri Ma Vidyalaya, Patlipada, Thane *

St. John the Baptist High School, Thane St. John the Baptist High School and Junior College is a Catholic school in the city of Thane, Maharashtra, India)to St. John the Baptist. It also has a school for children in need of special care. It is administered by the Roman Catholic Arc ...

* Vasant Vihar High School

Colleges and Institutes

* A. P. Shah Institute of Technology * Dr. V. N. Bedekar Institute of Management Studies, Dr. V. N. Bedekar Institute of Management Studies And Law * Institute of Management and Computer Studies * KC College of Engineering, Thane, KC College of Engineering * Rajiv Gandhi Medical College * Rustomjee Academy for Global Careers * Vidya Prasarak Mandal's Polytechnic

Notable people

*Malaika Arora Bollywood actress and dancer *Amrita Arora Bollywood actress *Jitendra Awhad Indian politician *Hruta Durgule Indian television actress *Anand Dighe "Dharmaveer' Unit Chief of Shiv Sena in Thane district *Poorva Gokhale Indian television actress *Suhas Joshi Indian film and television actress *Umesh Kamat Indian film and television actor *Kavita Lad Indian television and film actress *Sanjay Mukund Kelkar, Sanjay Kelkar Indian politician *Prajakta Koli Indian Youtuber *Pramod Mahajan Indian politician *Priya Marathe Indian television actress *Sanjeev Naik Indian politician *Anand Paranjpe Indian politician *Prakash Vishvanath Paranjape, Prakash Paranjape Indian politician *Ravindra Phatak Indian politician *Diana Pinto Miss India America 2009 *Satish Pradhan Indian politician *Prithvi Shaw Indian cricketer *Eknath Shinde Indian politician & current chief minister of Maharashtra *Shrikant Shinde Indian politician *Pratap Sarnaik Indian politician *Anant Tare Indian politician *Laxmi Narayan Tripathi – Indian LGBT Activist *Rajan Vichare Indian politician

References

External links

Thaneweb.com
��The city portal
Official Website of Thane Forest Circle

ThaneMahapailika.com
—Thane Municipal Corporation (Local Body)
Official website of Thane City

Thane District
{{Mumbai metropolitan area Thane, Cities and towns in Thane district Cities in Maharashtra