Tarapur is a census town

Census town

In India, a census town is one which has:# A minimum population of 5,000# At least 75% of male working population engaged in non-agricultural pursuits# A density of population of at least 400 persons per km2.In Ireland, a census town is;...

 in Thane district

Thane District

Thane is a district in northern Maharashtra state in western India. As of 2011 it is the most populated district in the nation. The headquarters of the district is the city of Thane. Other major cities in the district are Navi Mumbai , Kalyan-Dombivli, Mira-Bhayander, Bhiwandi, Ulhasnagar,...

 in the India

India

India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

n state

States and territories of India

India is a federal union of states comprising twenty-eight states and seven union territories. The states and territories are further subdivided into districts and so on.-List of states and territories:...

 of Maharashtra

Maharashtra

Maharashtra is a state located in India. It is the second most populous after Uttar Pradesh and third largest state by area in India...

. It is an industrial town located some 45 km north of Virar

Virar

Virar is a name of a suburb of Northern Mumbai. Virar is a city and a part of Vasai-Virar Municipal Corporation in Thane district in the Indian state of Maharashtra....

, on the Western Railway line of Mumbai

Mumbai

Mumbai , formerly known as Bombay in English, is the capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the most populous city in India, and the fourth most populous city in the world, with a total metropolitan area population of approximately 20.5 million...

 Suburban Division (Mumbai Suburban Railway

Mumbai Suburban Railway

The Mumbai Suburban Railway system, part of the public transport system of Mumbai, is provided for by the state-run Indian Railways' two zonal Western Railways and Central Railways. The system carries more than 6.99 million commuters on a daily basis. It has the highest passenger densities of any...

). Tarapur can be reached from Boisar

Boisar

- Geography :Boisar is located at . It has an average elevation of 10 metres .Boisar is located north of Virar on the Western Railway line of Mumbai Suburban Railway. To reach Boisar, one can catch Shuttle/MEMU trains from Virar. Some long-distance trains also stop here. By road, it can be...

, the nearest railway station. It is 20 km off National Highway NH-8.

Atomic power stations

The Tarapur nuclear power station houses two boiling water reactor

Boiling water reactor

The boiling water reactor is a type of light water nuclear reactor used for the generation of electrical power. It is the second most common type of electricity-generating nuclear reactor after the pressurized water reactor , also a type of light water nuclear reactor...

s (BWRs), each of 200 MW (De-rated to 160MW), the first in Asia, and a recent unit with two pressurised heavy water reactors each of 540 MW. This PHWR based power station is not only the largest nuclear power reactor in the country but also the largest power unit in India. It was commissioned seven months ahead of schedule, at a cost much lower than the original estimate, by the Nuclear Power Corporation of India

Nuclear Power Corporation of India

The Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited is a government-owned corporation of India based in Mumbai. One of the public sector undertakings, it is wholly owned by the Union Government and is responsible for the generation of nuclear power for electricity. NPCIL is administered by the...

.

Tarapur Atomic Power Station (320 MW) (T.A.P.S.) was constructed by the American companies Bechtel

Bechtel

Bechtel Corporation is the largest engineering company in the United States, ranking as the 5th-largest privately owned company in the U.S...

 and GE

Gê

Gê are the people who spoke Ge languages of the northern South American Caribbean coast and Brazil. In Brazil the Gê were found in Rio de Janeiro, Minas Gerais, Bahia, Piaui, Mato Grosso, Goias, Tocantins, Maranhão, and as far south as Paraguay....

 near village Akkarpatti. The new reactors (1080 MW) were constructed by L & T and Gammon

Gammon

Gammon may refer to:* Gammon bomb, a type of grenade* Gammon Technical Products, A US Company specializing in aviation fuel quality control and handling equipment* SA-5 Gammon, the NATO designation for the Russian S-200 'Volga' surface-to-air missile system...

 India. Both these power stations are operated by Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited. The personnel operating the power plant live in a residential complex called T. A. P. S. Township. This residential complex is a fifteen minute drive from Boisar, the nearest railway station. The residential complex was also constructed by Bechtel to house both Indian and American employees. Because it was the home to American engineers and technicians, the residential complex had a very American small-town look, with neat sidewalks, spacious houses, a club with tennis courts, gyms and swimming pool, a commissary etc. While the original American residents have long gone, the colony continues to thrive.

Industrial estate

Tarapur also houses two huge industrial estates Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation

Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation

Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation is a project of the Government of Maharashta State in India, and is the leading corporation of Maharashtra....

, Tarapur Industrial Estate and Additional Tarapur Industrial Estate), which include bulk drug manufacturing units, specialty chemical manufacturing units, steel plants and a few textile plants.

Prominent industries

Some of the prominent industrial units are Dicitex Group(The worlds 5th largest textile manufacturer), Lupin (the world's largest manufacturer of the anti-TB drug rifampicin

Rifampicin

Rifampicin or rifampin is a bactericidal antibiotic drug of the rifamycin group. It is a semisynthetic compound derived from Amycolatopsis rifamycinica ...

), Tata Steel, Encorp powertrans(Hot Dip Galvanizers), Jindal Steel, Aarti Drugs (anti-HIV

HIV

Human immunodeficiency virus is a lentivirus that causes acquired immunodeficiency syndrome , a condition in humans in which progressive failure of the immune system allows life-threatening opportunistic infections and cancers to thrive...

 drugs indinavir

Indinavir

Indinavir is a protease inhibitor used as a component of highly active antiretroviral therapy to treat HIV infection and AIDS.-History:...

 and nevirapine), Strides Arcolab, Camlin, S. D. Fine Chemicals, S.G. Synthetics Pvt. Ltd.,Valeron textile Pvt Ltd, Siyaram, Mudra Lifestyle Ltd.,Bombay Rayon Fashion, Aceelene Suitings, Pantaloon, Dicitex Decor, Sarex, Supertex, Sarex overseas, Vasudhara Dairy

Vasudhara Dairy

Vasudhara Dairy is a dairy cooperative in India, headquartered in Alipore, approx 3 km from Chikhli. It produces and markets milk and ghee for the local market under the Amul brand name. Its current capacity is 4 lakh litres per day.It has branches at Nagpur and Boisar...

 (Amul

Amul

Amul , formed in 1946, is a dairy cooperative in India. It is a brand name managed by an apex cooperative organisation, Gujarat Co-operative Milk Marketing Federation Ltd...

 ice creams), Vadilal Dairy, Viraj, Lavino Kapur, Ganesh Benzoplast (virtual monopoly in food preservative sodium benzoate

Sodium benzoate

Sodium benzoate has the chemical formula NaC6H5CO2; it is a widely used food preservative, with E number E211. It is the sodium salt of benzoic acid and exists in this form when dissolved in water. It can be produced by reacting sodium hydroxide with benzoic acid.-Uses:Sodium benzoate is a...

), A.M. Todd Company (the world's largest mint flavour company), Mukat Tanks & Vessels ( Steel Pipes ), Maharashtra Organo Metallic Catalysts (P) Ltd (India's leading tin specialty chemicals manufacturer), Galaxy Surfactants, New Alliance Dye Chem Pvt Ltd (manufacturing sequestering agents) and Duratex Silk Mills Limited, Orient press ltd, R5 Placements for all types of placement assistant and S.S Pharmachem.

Gas-fired power station

Tarapur Industrial Estate, Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation has proposed a gas fired power station for captive use at Tarapur Industrial Area. Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation has decided to explore the concept of group captive power plant (GCPP) as proposed in the Electricity Act of 2003. Subsequently Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation appointed PricewaterhouseCoopers

PricewaterhouseCoopers

PricewaterhouseCoopers is a global professional services firm headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the world's largest professional services firm measured by revenues and one of the "Big Four" accountancy firms....

 as consultant to study the concept of GCPPs.

Planning and layout

Unlike other industrial estates, this industrial estate has a pleasant look due to the roads crossing at right angles and lots of small gardens adjacent to the boundary walls of the industrial units. The location near Mumbai Port/Mumbai Harbour

Mumbai Harbour

Mumbai Harbour , or Front Bay, is a natural deep-water harbor in the southern portion of the Ulhas River estuary. The narrower, northern part of the estuary is called Thane Creek. The harbor opens to the Arabian Sea to the south...

 (MbPT) and JNPT as well as proximity to Trans Thane Creek (TTC) MIDC, Vapi

Vapi

Vapi Vapi Vapi (IAST: vāpī, Gujarati: , is a city and a municipality in Valsad district in the Indian state of Gujarat. It is situated on the banks of Damanganga River in southern Gujarat, India. Vapi falls under the taluka administration of Pardi...

 GIDC add a great value to this industrial estate. It is located on the most important rail-route, Mumbai to Delhi and the Mumbai-Ahmedabad Highway, a part of the Golden Quadrilateral

Golden Quadrilateral

The Golden Quadrilateral is a highway network connecting India's four largest metropolises: Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata, thus forming a quadrilateral of sorts. Four other top ten metropolises: Bangalore, Pune, Ahmedabad, and Surat, are also served by the network...

 project.

Environment

The first "Common Effluent Treatment Plant" (CETP) in Maharashtra came up at Tarapur. Tarapur Industrial Manufacturers' Association is responsible for planting saplings.

Geography

Tarapur is located at 17.7°N 75.47°E. It has an average elevation of 456 metre

Metre

The metre , symbol m, is the base unit of length in the International System of Units . Originally intended to be one ten-millionth of the distance from the Earth's equator to the North Pole , its definition has been periodically refined to reflect growing knowledge of metrology...

s (1496 feet).

Residential

Tarapur is spread across a number of villages. The location comprises excellent schools, hospitals, multiple shopping complexes, hotels and restaurants, and is well connected to Mumbai through road and rail. The main shopping areas are Chitralaya and Boisar (oswal), which have a huge number of small and big shops.

Demographics

India census

Census

A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring and recording information about the members of a given population. It is a regularly occurring and official count of a particular population. The term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common...

, Tarapur had a population of 7012. Males constitute 50% of the population and females 50%. Tarapur has a literacy rate of 91% for both males and females, much higher than the national average of 60%. In Tarapur, 11% of the population is under 6 years of age.

Attractions

Two beaches lay about four kilometres west from Tarapur. Well known is the Tarapur beach with a dilapidated Portuguese fort which was it was in a ruined state in 1862, part of the north wall having fallen. The Tarapur Fort, with wells and gardens within, was given in inam (a grant of real estate) by the Peshwa to Vikaji Mehrji, for a hundred years, and is still held by his heirs, and is currently in custody of Chorge family. Another beautiful site is the Chinchani beach, one and a half kilometres north of the fort.

Transport

Rented cars/taxis, state transport buses (Maharashtra State Transport Corporation) and auto rickshaws are the general mode of transport.

Transport history

Tarapur, a port in the Mahim sub-division, had a population of 2939 in 1881. It lies in a low wooded tract on the south bank of the Tarapur creek, sixty miles north of Bombay, fifteen miles north of Mahim, and road seven miles north-west of the Boisar station of the Baroda railway. The road from Boisar station was built in 1871 at a cost of £14,536 (Rs. 1,45,365). The traffic at Boisar station show an increase in passengers from 11,711 in 1873 to 24,329 in 1880, and in goods from 1289 to 3302 tons. From the village on the north bank of the creek the town is known by the joint name of Tarapur-Chinchni.

Ship transport

In 1634 the bar of the Tarapur river was described as of the same width as the Dahanu bar, with a similar sand bank at the mouth and a channel in the middle which was dry at low tide, but at high water allowed a ship to enter and anchor. Within a rocky reef, to the north-west of the town, there is still anchorage for small craft. But particularly in the south, the bottom is full of rocks and shoals, which stretch from Tarapur point to the north-west and north abreast the town. Between Tarapur and Bombay the tides set nearly in the direction of the land, the flood a little towards it or north, and the ebb a little from it about south by west.

In the 1881 population of 2939, there were 2124 Hindus, 397 Musalmans, 366 Parsis, and 52 Christians. The sea-trade returns for the five years ending 1878-79 show average exports worth £10,529 (Rs. 1,05,290) and average imports worth £6134 (Rs. 61,340). Exports varied from £1115 (Rs. 11,150) in 1877-78 to £16,840 (Rs. 1,68,400) in 1878-79, and imports from £4690 (Rs. 46,900) in 1878-79 to £7220 (Rs. 72,200) in 1876-77. [The details are: Exports, 1874-75 £14,031 (Rs. 1,40,310), 1875-76 £11,828 (Rs. 1,18,280), 1876-77 £8835 (Rs. 88,350), 1877-78 £1115 (Rs. 11,150?), 1878-79 £16,840 (Rs.1,68,400); Imports, 1874-75 £5370 (Rs. 53,700), 1875-76 £6694(Rs. 66,940), 1876-77 £7220 (Rs. 72,200), 1877-78 £6696 (Rs. 66,960), 1878-79 £4690 (Rs. 46,900).] A municipality was sanctioned in 1866, but the sanction was withdrawn in 1869. There is a Government school and a school founded by the Bombay Parsi Panchayat for teaching Zend Avesta. In the Parsi quarter of the town is a fire-temple, built about 1820 by the well-known Parsi contractor Vikaji Mehrji. Opposite to the fire-temple is Vikaji Mehrji's mansion, a large two-storied building visible for miles. About two miles to the south there are three Towers of Silence. The earliest of unknown date is built of undressed stones and mortar. Another of unknown date was built by public subscription; and the third, now in use, was built in 1866 also by public subscription. [Mr. B. B. Patel.]

History

At the end of the thirteenth century (1280), Tarapur is mentioned as one of the towns conquered from the Naiks by Bhim the legendary ruler of Mahim in Bombay island. [Naime's Konkan, 22.] In 1533 it was burnt by the Portuguese. [De Barros, VII. 501; Faria in Kerr, VI. 223, 225.] In 1556 the Portuguese possessions near Tarapur were greatly increased, and it was the head of the richest of the Daman districts. [De Couto, VIII. 208.] In 1559 an assault by some Abyssinian troops was successfully beaten off. [De Couto, VIII. 208.] In 1582, and again in 1612, the fort was unsuccessfully attacked by the Moghals.[De Couto, XI. 195; Mickle's Lusiad, ociii.] In 1634 the town was the seat of a magistrate with powers over half of the Daman territories. It exported provisions in which the country round was rich, and had a good trade with Surat and Diu. [O Chron. de Tis. III. 199.] The fort was surrounded by a wall with round bastions, and, besides quarters for the garrison, had a church, a Dominican monastery, and a hospital or misericordia. The garrison included a captain, a naik, ten peons, and a bombardier, a police inspector and four peons, an interpreter, a writer, a torchbearer, and an umbrella boy. Besides the garrison there was the vicar, and fifty Portuguese,200 Native Christians, and about 100 slaves, good fighters and well armed with swords, lances, and guns. [O Chron. de Tis. III. 199.] In 1670 Ogilby mentions it as a coast town, [O gilby's Atlas, V. 208.] and, in 1695, Gemelli Careri describes it as well inhabited with monasteries of the Dominicans and Franciscans of the Recolet school. [Churchill, IV. 190.] In 1728 it Was said to be of no strength and to be garrisoned by sixty soldiers. [O. Chron. de Tis. I. 35.] In 1739 the fort was attacked by the Marathas under Chimnaji Apa. Four mines were laid, of which two succeeded in making great breaches in a bastion and curtain. Bajibevrav, Ramchandra Hari, Yeshvant Pavar, and Tukaji Pavar rushed into the breaches with their colours. They were stoutly opposed by the Portuguese, and success was doubtful, till Ranoji Bhonsle scaled the wall in another part and divided the attention of the garrison. Still, as Chimnaji wrote, they fought with the courage of Europeans, till, at last overpowered, the survivors asked for and were granted quarter. [Grant Duff's Marathas, 241; Thornton's Gazetteer, 959-60.] In 1750 Tieffenthaler mentions Tarapur as a place once Portuguese now Maratha. [Res. Hist, et Geog. de l'Inde, I. 407.] After the capture the Marathas repaired the sea face of the fort in European style. In 1760 it was in good order and protected by four guns. [Anquetil du Perron's Zend A vests, occlxxxi.] In 1776 Raghunathrav took shelter in the fort. [Grant Duff's Marathas, 398.] In 1803 it passed to the British without resistance. In 1818 it was described by Captain Dickinson as one of the largest, best conditioned, and most central of the sea-coast forts in the north Konkan. The walls, most of which were of cut stone, enclosed a space 500 feet square. They were about thirty feet high and ten thick, except the parapet which was seldom more than four feet wide. The north face was washed by the sea at spring tides, and in many places was out of repair. Long stretches of the parapet had fallen, and, at the south-east angle of the fort, there was neither tower nor bastion. On three sides were remains of a dry ditch of inconsiderable width and depth. In the middle of the eastern face was the principal gateway, uncovered by traverse or any sort of outwork. Inside the fort were some large ruins and several buildings four of them private. There were besides two granaries and a guard-room, with some inferior buildings and several wells containing abundant and excellent water. As in Dahanu fort, houses and gardens came within 150 feet of the works. In 1862 it was in a ruined state, part of the north wall having fallen. In the fort were some wells and gardens. The fort was given in inam by the Peshwa to Vikaji Mehrji, for a hundred years, and is still held by his heirs. Taylor mentions, on the south bank of the creek, the remains of a Portuguese fort which was built in 1593. [Taylor's Sailing Directory, 372.]

Chinchni town on the north side of the creek has a customs-house and traveller's bungalow now used as school. On the beach, about a mile north of Tarapur, is a ruined brick tower, which, in 1818, Captain Dickinson found twenty-two feet high with a mean diameter of twenty-eight feet. The lower or main battery was nine feet above ground and contained five guns, the side parapet walls not exceeding three and a half feet in thickness. Over this battery was another, suited for an equal number of guns. Its parapet wall supported a wretched roof, and was not more than a foot and a half thick.

Towns nearby

Boisar

Boisar

- Geography :Boisar is located at . It has an average elevation of 10 metres .Boisar is located north of Virar on the Western Railway line of Mumbai Suburban Railway. To reach Boisar, one can catch Shuttle/MEMU trains from Virar. Some long-distance trains also stop here. By road, it can be...

, Chinchani

Chinchani

Chinchani is a census town in Thane district in the state of Maharashtra, India.- Geography :Chinchani is located at . It has an average elevation of 9 metres . It is well connected by roads and nearby railway station. Also it is the important center of education and commercial activities in...

, Vangaon

Vangaon

- Location :Vangaon is located 55 km north of Virar on the Western Railway line of Mumbai Suburban Railway. It can be reached from National Highway NH-8, 35 km off from Charoti Naka...

, Umroli

Umroli

-Location:Umroli is located 8 km south of Boisar on the Western Railway & 6 Km. from Palghar line of Mumbai Suburban Railway. It can be reached from National Highway NH-4, 30 km off from Charoti Naka...

, Palghar

Palghar

Palghar is a town and a Municipal Council in Thane district in Maharashtra. Situated about 87 kilometres from Mumbai, it is a part of the Mumbai Suburban Rail network which extends up to Dahanu and lies on the Mumbai-Ahmedabad rail route...

 and Dahanu Road

Dahanu Road

-Location:Dahanu is located 65 km north of Virar on the Western Railway line of Mumbai Suburban Railway. It can be reached from National Highway NH-8, 20 km off from Charoti Naka. It is 22 km North of Boisar on the Western Railway line. It has nice and beautiful beaches. There is...