Pimpri Chinchwad

Demographics

As of 2011 India census, Pimpri-Chinchwad had a population of 1,729,320. Pimpri-Chinchwad has an average literacy rate of 87.19, higher than the national average of 74.04%. In Pimpri-Chinchwad, 14% of the population is under 6 years of age.

The main language spoken in the town is Marathi.There is a significant Sindhi population in Pimpri whose dates back to the partition of India in 1947.

Geography

The township is situated at a height of 530 m above the sea level. It has pleasant climate all the year round. Three rivers Pavana, Mula and Indrayani flow through this area. Pimpri-Chinchwad sources its water from the Pavana river but release of domestic and industrial effluents, dumping of debris and domestic pollution has severely affected the quality of the Pavana water, though efforts have been taken to improve the quality of water, which have been successful in some places along the riverside.

History

Today's Pimpri-Chinchwad is formed of the formerly independent localities of Chinchwad, Pimpri, Nigdi, Akurdi, Kalewadi, and Bhosari. The name Chinchwad is derived from the trees Chinch (tamarind) and Wad (banyan). Chinchwad is famous for Saint Morya Gosavi’s Shrine, which is one of the lord Ganesha’s shaktipeeth in Maharashtra state. Due to the flooding of the river Pavana every year, the temple gets submerged in the river water. Local people consider it as bathing of lord Ganesha. Chinchwad is also the birthplace of the Chapekar brothers. Pimpri-Chinchwad is home to the historic town of Bhosari, originally known as Bhojapuri. Two thousand years ago, it was the capital of legendary Hindu king Bhoj. During the period of Mahabharata this town was known as Bhojakata, the capital of the Bhoja-Yadava king Rukmi. It is mentioned in Mahabharata that Bhojakata lay to the west of Kundinapuri, the capital of Vidarbha Kingdom.

Starting in the mid-1950s the green fields of the villages on the sides of the highway and railways linking Pune to Mumbai became locations of choice for large industrial development. In the 1960s, the newly founded Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC) purchased vast tracts of land and built roads and water supply infrastructure. It turned the area into a successful cluster of pharmaceutical, mechanical, automotive, and, more recently, information technology, of national and international importance (see Industries below). Hundreds of thousands of people migrated to the new hub to fill the jobs and benefit from rapid economic development. In 1970, the scattered village jurisdictions merged into one single municipal authority, the Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC).

Local Government

The city corporation has an elected body 128 corporators.The chief executive of the city is a municipal commissioner appointed by the state government. The current commissioner of Pimpri-Chinchwad is Shravan Hardikar The additional commissioner is Tanaji Shinde. In the elections to the corporation this year, the BJP won an overwhelming majority over the Nationalist Congress Party that previously controlled the corporationMr. Nitin Kalje from the BJP is the current mayor of Pimpri-Chinchwad.

The JNNURM award for Best Performing City under Sub-Mission for Urban Infrastructure and Governance was given to Pimpri-Chinchwad. [SARATHI]System of Assisting Residents and Tourist Through Helpline Information, the grievance portal of the city has gained national recognition and is a role model for other cities too.

Culture

Ganesh Chaturthi is celebrated with great rigour and joy. by the Hindu community. Dasara is also one of the important festival. All industries are closed during Dasara. Marathi Navabuddha in the city celebrate Buddha Purnima, and Dr.B.R.Ambedkar's Birth Anniversary.

Tourism

Morya Gosavi temple in chinchwad gaon is the most famous tourist attraction, other places of interest are

Industries

Pune is one of the major industrial hubs in Asia and many of these industries are situated in Pimpri Chinchwad area. Industrialization started in 1954 with the arrival of Hindustan Antibiotics Limited in this area. PCMC is now home to the Indian operations of major automobile companies like Premier Limited, Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd - Truck & Bus Division, Mahindra Engineering services, Bajaj Auto, BEL Optronic Devices Limited, TATA Motors (formerly TELCO), Kinetic Engineering, Force Motors (formerly Bajaj Tempo) Daimler Chrysler, Thermax and Autoline Industries. In addition to this, several heavy industries such as Forbes-Marshall, ThyssenKrupp and GEA Ecoflex, Alfa Laval & Sandvik Asia have their manufacturing units in the town and also the German company KSB Pumps, Swedish bearing company SKF.

Transport

Pimpri-Chinchwad is well connected by road, rail and air. The airport is Pune Airport, with the Maharashtra government planning to set up a New Pune International Airport in Purandar area. Pune - Lonavla suburban local trains run through PCMC area. Old Pune–Mumbai Highway has been widened to four lanes, which has improved connectivity to Pune and reduced travel by 30 minutes. It has a State Transport Bus stand Pimpri-Chinchwad Bus Stand at Vallabhnagar. Pune Mahanagar Parivahan Mahamandal Limited operates the public transport system in this area. The Pune Metro project will improve the connectivity to the center of Pune City with routes planned from Pimpri and Nigadi in future. A Rainbow BRTS system is also under expansion in this area. The main railway stations for this area are Chinchwad Railway Station, Akurdi Railway Station and Pimpri Railway Station.