Tamhini Ghat is a mountain passage located between

Mulshi Mulshi is a village and an administrative block in Pune Pune ( ; , ISO 15919, ISO: ), previously spelled in English as Poona (List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name until 1978), is a city in the state ...

and Tamhini in

Maharashtra Maharashtra () is a state in the western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. It is bordered by the Arabian Sea to the west, the Indian states of Karnataka and Goa to the south, Telangana to th ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

. Situated on the crest of the Western Ghat mountain ranges, Tamhini Ghat is noted for its surroundings comprising scenic waterfalls, lakes and dense woods. The best time to visit is October through December.

History

Tamhini Ghat did not exist earlier, as the whole area is under ata Power Considering the requirement of additional routes to take traffic in Konkan from Pune and Lonawala this route was proposed.

Road

The Tamhini road ghat cuts the Sahyadri range to join

to Tamhini and makes the route in Konkan from

Pune Pune ( ; , ISO 15919, ISO: ), previously spelled in English as Poona (List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name until 1978), is a city in the state of Maharashtra in the Deccan Plateau, Deccan plateau in Western ...

. This ghat stretches almost 15 km. The road is now very good and newly laid. The entire stretch becomes a popular destination during the monsoons. During the rainy season, the place transforms into a green bed with many waterfalls and streams. There are state buses which ply through the ghat connecting Pune city with places on the Goa highway (NH17). Tamhini Ghat can be accessed from Mumbai via the Mumbai-Goa Highway by reaching

Kolad Kolad is a village in Raigad district, Maharashtra State, India. It is 117 km from Mumbai on the National Highway no 66(Mumbai-Goa) its also connected to Pune via Kolad Pune- Kolad state highway. It lies on the banks of River Kundalika Riv ...

and after crossing the bridge over

Kundalika River The Kundalika is a small river flowing from the hills of Sahyadri to the Arabian Sea. This river originates at a small town called Bhira in the Indian state of Maharashtra, 150 km south east of Bombay (Mumbai). The important towns located ...

, take the left turn that leads to Pune via the

Mulshi Dam Mulshi is the name of a major dam on the Mula River in India. It is located in the Mulshi taluka administrative division of the Pune district of Maharashtra State. Water from the dam is used for irrigation as well as for generating electricit ...

backwaters. Tamhini Ghat is the stretch between Kolad and these backwaters. It contains different kinds of green velvety carpets, gushing streams, dark grey clouds stooping low, and the occasional waterfalls. These impromptu waterfalls attract tourists from far and wide. From the Tamhini Ghat, the road that leads to the Mulshi Dam backwaters which goes to the waterfall at Palse. This particular waterfall is nowadays getting crowded. Further ahead is Kolad which is now becoming immensely popular for river rafting that you can do on the river Kundalika.

Rail

The Central Railway Zone &

Indian Railways Indian Railways is a state-owned enterprise that is organised as a departmental undertaking of the Ministry of Railways (India), Ministry of Railways of the Government of India and operates India's national railway system. , it manages the fou ...

planned a connection between

Pimpri Chinchwad Pimpri-Chinchwad, also known as PCMC, is a city in the Indian state of Maharashtra. The city is about northwest of the historic city of Pune, at an altitude of above sea level. It is the fifth largest city in Maharashtra and the eighteenth l ...

Konkan Railway The Konkan Railway (abbreviated KR) is one of the 19 railway zones in India with its headquarters at CBD Belapur in Navi Mumbai, Maharashtra, India. The Konkan Railway line from Roha to Thokur is operated and maintained by Konkan Railway co ...

in Maharshatra through a Railway. The project was termed

Kundalika River Valley Railway The Kundalika is a small river flowing from the hills of Sahyadri to the Arabian Sea. This river originates at a small town called Bhira in the Indian state of Maharashtra, 150 km south east of Bombay (Mumbai). The important towns located ...

. But the plan was scrapped following survey of the region, which opined on the facts that neither a

Broad Gauge A broad-gauge railway is a railway with a track gauge (the distance between the rails) broader than the used by standard-gauge railways. Broad gauge of , more known as Russian gauge, is the dominant track gauge in former Soviet Union countries ...

nor a

Metre Gauge Metre-gauge railways ( US: meter-gauge railways) are narrow-gauge railways with track gauge of or 1 metre. Metre gauge is used in around of tracks around the world. It was used by several European colonial powers including France, Britain and ...

railway can be constructed in Tamhini Ghat Region. Later a survey was done again for construction of a

Narrow Gauge A narrow-gauge railway (narrow-gauge railroad in the US) is a railway with a track gauge (distance between the rails) narrower than . Most narrow-gauge railways are between and . Since narrow-gauge railways are usually built with Minimum railw ...

line, but it was also scrapped.

References

External links

* https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Zht1T73W3k {{Pune district topics Mountain passes of Maharashtra