Bhor Ghat
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Bhor Ghat | |
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Sahyadri | |
Coordinates | 18°28′N 73°13′E / 18.46°N 73.22°E |
Bhor Ghat.
History
In February 1781, Bhorghat was the site of a battle between the Maratha Empire centered in Pune and the foreign powers in Mumbai. They dispatched a large force to capture Pune, which had to pass through the Bhorghat pass, where they were intercepted by Maratha forces. In the battle that ensued, the Marathas inflicted a crushing defeat on the British in what would be known as the Battle of Bhorghat.[4]
The discovery of a route to make a motorable pass in Bhor Ghat came after information was provided by a local Dhangar tribesman called Shigroba. Later, the Great Indian Peninsula Railway laid a railway line from Mumbai to Pune. The section through Bhor Ghat with 28 tunnels, and old bridges was opened in 1863.[5] The Ghat opened Mumbai to the Deccan plains of Peninsular India.[6]
Building a railway over the Bhor ghat was an exercise in imperial engineering, as noted in an article in Engineering Magazine in 1899, where it was described as "a more certain and enduring form of attack than military power, and that the railway, the canal and harbour are the real weapons in the conquest of a colony."[7] p. 347
The number of staff during construction increased from 10,000 in 1856, over 20,000 in 1857 to a peak of 42,000 in January 1861. The original incline included building 25 tunnels, eight arched masonry viaducts, blasting and removing of 54
The project was marred by industrial unrest, disease and accidents. As many as 24,000 workers died during the project.[8] The first contractor awarded the section, William Frederick Faviell, mistreated his workers and underpaid his subcontractors, leading to riots by the workers that resulted in the death of one of the European managers attempting to subdue the unrest. Following a Government investigation, Faviell's contract was taken away from him and granted to Solomon Tredwell, who arrived in 1859 to restart the works. Tredwell died within days, of dysentery or cholera. His wife, Alice then took over the contract, completing it with success by 1863.[9]
During the grand ceremony at the official opening, which was held at
Rail
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The Bhor Ghat Railway is a part of the Mumbai–Chennai line and cuts a distance of 21 km between Khandala and Palasdari. There are 28 tunnels across the railway ghat.[citation needed] This ghat comes under the proposed Golden Quadrilateral Freight Corridors. During construction of this ghat almost 25,000 workers lost their lives due to steepness of this ghat.[7] p. 343 Initially steam traction was used to haul trains across this ghat. In 1929–30 the Great Indian Peninsula Railway electrified Mumbai – Pune section with a 1.5 kV DC system. This led to end of steam era on this ghat. The electrification system of the Mumbai – Pune section completed its conversion to a 25 kV 50 Hz AC system in June 2015.
The first DC locomotives were EF/1 class locomotives (later classified as WCG1) for freight trains. Later Express trains were hauled by EA/1 class locomotives (later classified as WCP1).[10]
- Reversing Station
There used to be a reversing station on this ghat which trains of
Railway stations on Bhor Ghat | ||||||
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# | Station Name | Description | km | |||
English | Marathi | Station code | ||||
1 | Palasdari | पळसदरी | PDI | Start | 0 | |
2 | Thakurvadi | ठाकुरवाडी | TKW | Minor Halt | 9 | |
3 | Monkey Hill | मंकी हिल | MNLC | Technical Halt, no tickets issued | 16 | |
4 | Khandala | खंडाळा | KAD | End | 21 |
Road
The road ghat lies between
See also
References
- ^ Google Earth
- ^ The Indian Empire by William Wilson Hunter, p. 36.
- ^ "The Gazetteers Department – KOLABA". Archived from the original on 1 May 2008. Retrieved 23 January 2009.
- ISBN 9781648926600.
- ISBN 978-0-85112-707-1.
- ^ Rao, M.A. (1988). Indian Railways. New Delhi: National Book Trust. p. 15.
- ^ a b c d Ian Kerr: The Building of the Bhor Ghat Railway Incline in Western India in the mid-19th Century.
- ^ Mishra, Kamal (14 March 2017). "24,000 dead workers: Ghats have a hell station, and a story to tell". Bangalore Mirror.
- ISBN 978-1-78239-766-3.
- ^ A Brief History of Railway Electrification in India
- ^ Bhor Ghat Reversing station
- ^ Khandala Reversing Station
- ^ 14 lanes, 12-km bypass to speed up Mumbai–Pune expressway traffic