Mumbai: The tribal-dominated area of Palghar, around 90km from Mumbai, became the 36th district of Maharashtra on Friday after being carved out of India’s most populous Thane district.
The new district, will have eight administrative blocks — Palghar, Jawahar, Mokhada, Talasari, Vasai, Wada, Dahanu and Vikramgad — and has been formed following a long pending demand to bifurcate Thane district.
A notification from the government on the formation of the new district was issued in June. The new district headquarters will be stationed in Palghar.
Thane, Kalyan, Ambernath, Ulhasnagar, Bhiwandi, Murbad and Shahapur will continue to be part of Thane district, which earlier had a population of 12 million.
Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan, who travelled to the district in the morning by a train due to bad roads and weather was welcomed by party workers at the Palghar railway station. A formal function was held even as hoardings announced and heralded the creation of Palghar.
This is a major bifurcation of a district since 1999 after Gondiya and Gadchiroli were formed in eastern Vidarbha region.
Though the formation of a smaller district is expected to help in better administration of this predominantly tribal district, a public interest litigation (PIL) has been filed in the Bombay High Court by a group of local political leaders and social activists including tribals opposing the Maharashtra government’s decision to carve out this new district.
A total of 33 persons, including legislators belonging to the Left parties, National Congress Party, Bharatiya Janata Party and others have filed the PIL. The PIL has demanded to “quash and set aside the said political decision of the government.”
They have also appealed to the court to direct the respondents — the Maharashtra government, principal secretaries in department of revenue and forest, tribal development department, Konkan divisional commissioner and collector and additional collector of Thane district — to form a separate tribal district.
This should consist of, the PIL says, the scheduled areas of Jawhar, Wada, Vikramgadh, Mokhada, Dahanu and parts of Palghar, Sahapur and Vasai.
Those opposing the new district feel the present structure of Palghar will concentrate on urban areas and tribal areas and villages will continue to be neglected.
They have even alleged that the present Palghar district would benefit government officials and deprive more than 90 per cent of the new district’s three-million strong population of any development.
Palghar has good connectivity from Western Railway and Western Express Highway and attracts weekend tourists to its fruit farms, Kelva Beach, Vaghoba waterfalls, Seetladevi temple and Shirgaon Fort.
