Palghar lies to the north of Mumbai on the Western Railway accessing the Mumbai-Ahmadabad rail corridor and the NH8. It is well connected by road and rail to Gujarat and from there to other parts of Northern India. It is also well connected to Mumbai. The divisional head quarters of the Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) is based in Palghar and offers direct connectivity to areas like Pune, Thane, Kalyan, Shirdi and Nashik among the other destinations in Maharashtra.
22 long distance trains and 6 Local EMU trains operate through Palghar to Dadar, an important Western Railway Suburban station, along with some other long distance trains. Buses, operated by MSRTC, and auto rickshaws are the other modes of transport.
Education
Palghar has a number of schools offering both English and Marathi medium of instruction. Some of the schools offering English medium are Sacred Heart High School, Holy Spirit H. S., Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya, Anand Ashram H. S., and Sundaram Central School (CBSE syllabus) and Chinmaya Vidyalaya (CBSE), Tarapur. M. N. Dandekar H. S., Bhagini Samaj Vidyamandir and Adarsh Vidyamandir are some Marathi medium schools.
Among the colleges in Palghar are the SDSM or Dandekar College, National College, St John College of Engineering and Technology, St John Institute of Pharmacy and Research, St John Institute of Management and Research.
Industries
Palghar has a number of Industrial Townships with many small scale industries in plastics, engineering, pharmaceuticals and textiles. It also is home to the biggest fishing center in Maharashtra. The major workforce is engaged in companies in Navi Mumbai, Mumbai and its suburbs. Tarapur which is about 25 km from Palghar houses two major industrial estates – The Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC) and the Additional Industrial Estate that house manufacturing units for bulk drugs, Steel (Tata) and Textile plants. Besides, the Tarapur Atomic Power station is based here.
Hospitals and Health care
There are a number of hospitals and government primary health care centres: some of these are Ganesh, Kanta Maternity, Naniwadekar, Jeevan Jyot Eye Hospital and M L Dhavale Memorial Trust Hospital. Besides, there are many private medical practitioners and polyclinics
Shopping & Entertainment
Kuber Shopping Centre, M. V. Shopping Centre and the Machhimar Society are some of the shopping places besides other standalone shops selling a variety of wares: groceries, food, apparels, fashion wear and white goods. There are cinema theatres for entertainment like Gold Digital Cinema, Prakash, Raj and K. T. Vision in Boisar. There are no major malls but standalone chain shops like Big Bazaar are expected to be set up soon.
Palghar is home to a number of beach resorts since it is blessed with many scenic and unspoilt beaches: Kelva, Tandel, Silent Hills, Ya Niwant, Coconut Valley and Sajan Nature Club being some of the resorts.
Realty
If you are looking for affordable accommodation with long term appreciation, Palghar would be worth looking at. It is a peaceful place, yet unspoilt but the progress and developments are bound to catch up when other areas become unaffordable, like the story of Navi Mumbai and Panvel. But as always, have a clear goal in mind and make an informed choice after going through the process of due diligence.
Stanley Varghese for IndiaProperty.com
Image: By Superfast1111 (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons