Vasai-Virar

Template:Infobox Indian jurisdiction Vasai-Virar (Template:Lang-mr) is a city in Maharashtra state in western India. It is located in Thane District, 50 km north of Mumbai. The city is located on the north bank of Vasai Creek, part of the estuary of the Ulhas River. The newly formed Vasai Virar Municipal Corporation (VVMC) is the civic body that governs the city. Vasai-Virar is an agglomeration of several formerly separate towns. The area covered by the city roughly corresponds to the ancient city of Sopara.

History

The remains of the old Bassein Fort

Sopara was known as Shurparaka in ancient period. Sopara was a big trading centre and the harbour was in today's Gass village. It was known as Ophir and some of the trading which took place in the 3rd century with middle east (now Israel) the wood ( specially Teak Wood) supplied in middle east was used in the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem. It is still there in that Church. Vasai-Virar has four stations Naigaon, Vasai Road, Nala Sopara, and Virar on the Mumbai suburban railway's Western Railway railway line.

The town of Sopara (Ophir) (the present-day Gass) was a centre of the Indian Ocean trade going in Roman times, but later when its harbour was since silted up, trade shifted to Vasai, which traded in horses, fish, salt, timber, and quarried basalt and granite, and was a shipbuilding centre. Vasai came under the control of the Gujarat Sultanate in the 15th century.

Portuguese rule

The Portuguese attacked the city in 1528, and captured it in 1532. The city, known to the Portuguese as Baçaim, became the centre of Portuguese India's Northern Province, which included a string of Portuguese settlements extending almost 100 km along the coast and in some places 30–50 km inland. Other settlements in the Northern Province included Daman, Mahim, Thane, Kalyan, Salsette, Bombaim (Bombay), and Chaul.

In the second half of 16th century the Portuguese enclosed the town in a new fortress wall with 10 bastions. The city reached the height of its prosperity at the end of the 17th century. During the 18th century, the city was eclipsed by nearby Bombay, which had been ceded to the British in 1661, and shortly thereafter became the headquarters of the British East India Company in India.

Maratha rule

The Marathas captured Kalyan in 1720, and in 1737 they captured Thane and Salsette Island from the Portuguese. The other Portuguese settlements in the northern province were captured in 1738-39, and in February 1739, the Maratha General Chimnaji Appa laid siege to Baçaim, which capitulated on 16 May 1739.

Earlier in 1737, the Marathas under Baji Bhimrao made an unsuccessful attempt in capturing Bassein fort, but it was unsuccessful because the Marathas were engaged in a conflict on the northern front at same time. The vasai campaign was undertaken again in 1739 under the leadership of Chimnaji Appa, the Peshwa Bajirao's brother. Chimnaji Appa first laid a siege to the fort, then he cut-off the supply-line of the Portuguese from Manor, Asherigad, Chaul and Dahanu. He started heavy artillery bombardments on the Bassein fort. Finally, in May 1739, the Portuguese surrendered.

British rule

The British captured Salsette and Baçaim, which they called Bassein, from the Marathas in 1774, at the start of the First Anglo-Maratha War. The Treaty of Bassein was concluded between the Marathas and the British East India Company on December 31, 1802, which left the British in possession of Bassein.

Post-independence

The region has seen a building boom since the 1980s, including the expansion of branch plants and offices from Mumbai. The land development boom has resulted in the loss of much of the region's wetlands and forest cover. Communicable diseases are widespread here due to the open sewers and stagnated water everywhere.

Civic administration

The Vasai-Virar Municipal Corporation (VVMC) was formed on 3 July 2009 by amalgamating four Municipal Councils: Vasai, Nalasopara, Navghar-Manikpur and Virar along with another 53 adjoining village panchayats. These were: Agashi, Bapane, Bhuigaon Budruk, Bhuigaon Khurd, Bilalpada, Bolinj, Chandansar, Chandeep, Chikhal Dongare, Chinchoti, Chobare, Dahisar, Dhaniv, Deodal, Gas, Gaskopari, Girij, Gokhiware, Juchandra, Kaman, Kaner, Karadi, Karmale, Kasrali, Kashid Kopar, Kaular Budruk, Kaular Khurd, Kirwali, Kofrad, Kolhi, Koshimbe, Mandvi, Mardes, Mulgaon, Naigaon, Nale, Navale, Nirmal, Pelhar, Rajwali, Rajodi, Saloli, Sandor, Sasunavghar, Sativali, Shirgaon, Shirshad, Umela, Umrale, Vadavali, Vagholi, Valiv and Vatar.

The VVMC comprised 89 wards at the time of formation in 2009. In the municipal election held on 30 May 2010, the Bahujan Vikas Aghadi won in 55 wards and the Lokhitwadi Party won in 19 wards.

Although, 53 village panchayats were merged to form the Vasai-Virar Municipal Corporation, 49 village panchayats were opposed to it. Later, following protests, the Maharashtra state government agreed to exclude 35 village panchayats from the VVMC, and on 21 April 2011, after further protests, 29 village panchayats were excluded by the government. But simultaneously, it also decided to add two more village panchayats, Bhatwadi and Kopri to the VVMC.

Transport

The Great Indian Peninsular Railway (GIP) (present-day Central Railway) and the Bombay, Baroda and Central India Railway (BB&CI) (present-day Western Railway) tracks were built through Vasai-Virar in 1860, and regular rail service started in 1869. The first electric locomotives of BB&CI started operating on two tracks between Borivali and Virar stations in 1936. The quadruple tracks between Borivali and Virar stations were inaugurated on July 7, 2007. The Four stations on the Mumbai Suburban Railway serve the city: Naigaon, Vasai Road, Nala Sopara and Virar.

External links

• Local Yellow Pages of Vasai with Google Maps, Driving directions, Classifieds, Address, Phone and Fax numbers
• A portal on Vasai-Virar