Khoni, Maharashtra
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| ?Khoni Maharashtra • India |
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| Coordinates: (find coordinates) | |
| Time zone | IST (UTC+5:30) |
| District(s) | Thane |
| Population | 22,687 (2001) |
Khoni is a census town in Thane district in the Indian state of Maharashtra.
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[edit] Demographics
As of 2001 India census[1], Khoni had a population of 22,687. Males constitute 65% of the population and females 35%. Khoni has an average literacy rate of 67%, higher than the national average of 59.5%: male literacy is 72%, and female literacy is 58%. In Khoni, 14% of the population is under 6 years of age. Khoni is exactly situated on the katai naka Badlapur pipeline road.
[edit] How to reach
There is a special bus facility from Dombivli railway station (E) and Kalyan railway station (W)
[edit] Places to visit
[edit] Gharkul- Home for the Mentally Challenged
Gharkul houses approximately 15 mentally challenged inmates. The organisation is a not for profit organisation and was the brain child of Major GK Kale. The organisation runs on donation money as it is not a government sponsored trust. Various social groups support the functioning of this organisation by voluntarily pitching in help of monetary as well as non monetary nature. The trust conducts an annual day in the month of January in addition to having other festive celebrations for the inmates. The inmates crave care rather than anything else. Some of them as old as 50, while some as young as 15. Either way, very few are lucky enough to be visited by their parents. The trust has had instances when the parents of inmates have visited after 15-20 long years and the inmate not even recognising his own parent. But despite a relative paucity of funds, the maintenance of the area has been above average—what with doctors visiting every week/ fortnight and proper hygienic facilities being provided. The area is characterised by a calm and quiet that is typical of a village, and the free area promises a better life, if not exactly faster healing, for the inmates.
[edit] Khoni Dry Forest
On the same katai naka Badlapur pipeline road, opposite the Gharkul Home for mentally challenged, is a vast and extensive dry forest zone. The area is basically a low rainfall zone and is characterized by thorny shrubs,similar to many parts of western Maharahstra. The region is sadly witnessing a lot of illegal quarrying by builders for the quality stone in these mountains. The area is marked by a Brick Factory [handloom] and if one follows the kuchcha path, one can reach the Hanuman temple at the base of the forest, with a beautiful pond that offers a rich view of the birds of the forest. One may encounter sad facts of life like I did, meeting local kids and conversing with them [local language is Marathi, Sparse Hindi is spoken as well]. I wanted to shoot the same bird that they did, I with my camera, and they with their slingshot. Such is the poverty in the area that the whole population depends on hunted birds and sparse quantities of ricemeal. The dry forest is home to many snakes, a few of them poisonous. The locals term it as "Kaali-sarp" meaning black snake—one that they claim is highly poisonous. The forest also connects two villages on either side of the temple area, though it is generally not advisable to cover the area on foot, given the sheer number of snakes in the region.
[edit] References
- ^ Census of India 2001: Data from the 2001 Census, including cities, villages and towns. (Provisional). Census Commission of India. Retrieved on 2007-09-03.
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