Ulhasnagar

Ulhasnagar
उल्हासनगर
City
Nickname(s): Ulhas
Ulhasnagar
Coordinates: 19°13′N 73°09′E / 19.22°N 73.15°E / 19.22; 73.15Coordinates: 19°13′N 73°09′E / 19.22°N 73.15°E / 19.22; 73.15
Country  India
State Maharashtra
District Thane
Elevation 19 m (62 ft)
Population (2011)
 • Total 506,098
Languages
 • Official Sindhi
Time zone IST (UTC+5:30)
PIN 421001-5
Telephone code STD code 0251
Vehicle registration MH-05
Lok Sabha constituency Kalyan
Website www.umc.gov.in

Ulhasnagar is a city located in the Thane district of Maharashtra state in Konkan division. This city is part of Mumbai Metropolitan Region managed by MMRDA. It had an estimated population of 506,098 at the 2011 Census.[1] Ulhasnagar is a municipal town and the headquarters of the Tahsil bearing the same name. It is a railway station on the Mumbai-Pune route of the Central Railway.

Ulhasnagar, a colony of migrants in the aftermath of Partition, is situated 58 km from Mumbai. The once-barren land has developed into a rich town of Thane district. Originally, known as Kalyan Military transit camp, Ulhasnagar was set up especially to accommodate 6,000 soldiers and 30,000 others during World War II. There were 2,126 barracks and about 1,173 housed personals. The majority of barracks had large central halls with rooms attached to either end. The camp had a deserted look at the end of the war and served as a ready and ideal ground for Partition victims. Sindhis, in particular, began life anew in the new land. On August 8, 1949 the first and last Governor-General of India, C. Rajagopalachari, laid the foundation stone. The population of the town which was 80,861 as per the Census of 1961 and more than doubled to 1,68,462 as per the Census of 1971. As per Census of 2001 it is 4,72,943.

Included in the functional category of industry, the town covers an area of 13 square kilometers and is divided into 285 blocks. It is a centre for the production of rayon silk, dyes, ready-made garments, electrical / electronic appliances & confectionaries. The total length of existing Roads & Streets in the town measures 352 kilometers. The town is served by underground & open-surface drainage, night soil being disposed of by septic tank latrines. The town gets a protected water supply through MIDC. Sanctioned Water Quota at various tapping points is 112 MLD. Fire-fighting service is also available in the town. 60 private hospitals with a total bed-strength of 840 beds 3 Government hospitals with total bed-strength of 356 beds, 255 dispensaries / clinics, 100 RMP and a family planning centre cater to the curative and preventive health needs of the town population. Educational facilities are provided by 129 primary schools, 56 Secondary Schools, 9 Higher Secondary schools, 3 colleges and 2 Technical Colleges. Entertainment facilities are provided by one stadium and nine cinema theatres besides five auditorium-cum-drama halls. Nine Public Libraries are located in the town. Ulhasnagar is considered as one of the largest denim jeans manufacturer. It has number of small businesses, manufacturing quality denims with an effective cheap labour. Some of the manufacturers export jeans worldwide from Ulhasnagar.[2] The city is also famous for its furniture market, cloth market and electronic market.[3]

Demographics

According to the 2011 Census of India,[4] Ulhasnagar had a population of 506,098. Males constituted 53% of the population and females 47%.

Religions in Ulhasnagar
Religion Percent
Hindus
  
 74%
Buddhists
  
 15%
Jains
  
 5.7%
Christians
  
 2.4%
Others†
  
 1.3%
Muslims
  
 1%
Distribution of religions
†Includes some errors in making this table Sikhs (0.2%), Buddhists (<0.2%).

History

Ulhasnagar is a municipal city and the headquarters of the Tehsil (taluka) bearing the same name. It is a railway station on the Mumbai-Pune route of the Central Railway. Ulhasnagar, a colony of migrants in the aftermath of the Partition of India (1947), is 68 years old. Situated 58 km from Mumbai, the once-barren land has developed into an urban town of Thane district. Originally, known as Kalyan Military transit camp, Ulhasnagar was set up especially to accommodate 6,000 soldiers and 30,000 others during World War II. There were 2,126 barracks and about 1,173 housed personals. The majority of barracks had large central halls with rooms attached to either end. The camp had a deserted look at the end of the war and served as a ready and commercial ideal ground for Partition victims. Sindhis, in particular, began life anew in the new land.

After the partition of India, over 1,00,000 Sindhi-speaking Hindu refugees from the newly created West Pakistan were relocated to the deserted military camps five kilometres from Kalyan. The area was converted into a township in 1949 and foundation ceremony took place on 8 August 1949. The Governor-general of India, C. Rajagopalachari named the town Ulhasnagar (literally 'city of joy'; ulhas=joy; nagar=city) and he also laid the foundation stone for the township. Not actually, it was called Ulhasnagar, because of its close proximity to Ulhas Plateau and its valley.

A suburban railway station was built in 1955. In January 1960, Ulhasnagar Municipality was formed, with Arjun K. Ballani as first chief, and a municipal council was nominated. In 1965, elections were first held in this council. Now this 28 square kilometre area has 389,000 people of Sindhi descent, the largest enclave of Sindhis in India. The town lies outside Mumbai city but within the Mumbai Conurbation. In 2010, the estimated population of Sindhi Hindus in Ulhasnagar was 400,000.[5] Ulhasnagar is one of the major exporter of jeans, clothes, School Bags and fabrics not just in India but all over the world. Monthly production of jeans here is more than 500 million.

Apart from this Ulhasnagar has various Small Scale Manufacturing units which produces Confectinary, Textile Weaving, Furniture, Printing Press etc.

Ulhasnagar is also famous for Chaliya Sahib Temple in Ulhasnagar 5.

Business and Corruption

In the late 1970s, Ulhasnagar was a town settled mainly by Sindhi refugees.[6] There are a number of criminal gangs in town working under the patronage of political parties.[7] Also for many illegal building projects in 1990s, politicians started to charge money to look the other way.[8]

Transport

One can reach Ulhasnagar by road or railway. Ulhasnagar railway station is on the Central Line of the Mumbai Suburban Railway. One can reach Ulhasnagar by alighting at either of Kalyan and Shahad Station which are near camp 1 and 2 or Ulhasnagar and Vithalwadi Railway Stations which are close to 3 and 4 or Ulhasnagar and Ambernath Railway Stations are near to camp 4 and 5. The city is serviced by City Bus and autorickshaw for travel from Mumbai, Bhiwandi & Thane as well. Recently "Ulhasnagar Municipal Transport Service" was launched in 2010 wherein mini buses ply from Kalyan Railway Station to kailash Colony in ulhasnagar-5 near David's Cottage covering almost full Ulhasnagar. There are auto rickshaws and municipality buses for transportation. Since Mid of 2013 the bus service launched became almost inoperative and to travel in Ulhasnagar the only option is auto rickshaws.

References

  1. ↑ Mumbai Councils
  2. ↑ Dionne Bunsha (17 December 2004). "The States:Ulhasnagar in a new role". The Hindu. Retrieved 24 May 2007.
  3. ↑ "About Ulhasnagar, Introduction of Ulhasnagar, Ulhasnagar Profile". www.ulhasnagaronline.in. Retrieved 2016-01-09.
  4. ↑
  5. ↑ Sindhi conversions in Ulhasnagar raise a storm
  6. ↑ Girish Kuber (2007-01-09). "Pappu's Ulhasnagar gambit may backfire". Economic Times. Retrieved 2007-05-24.
  7. ↑ Ghosh, S.K. (1991). The Indian mafia. New Delhi: Ashish Pub. House. p. 56. ISBN 9788170243786. Retrieved 3 February 2017.
  8. ↑ Yogesh Pawar (3 March 1999). "Three Ps rule Ulhas: Pelf, Politicians & Pappu.and his most trusted man shamsher ansari Ulhasnagar is mainly distributed in 5 areas namely ulhasnagar 1,2,3,4 and 5". Indian Express. Retrieved 24 May 2007.
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