Migrants, cheap accommodation reasons behind Thane's burgeoning population

World population reached 8 billion, the spotlight is on Thane, the district with the highest population in India, with experts attributing the growth to migrants who commute to workplaces in Mumbai

As the global population reached 8 billion, the spotlight is on Thane, the district with the highest population in India, with experts attributing the growth to migrants who find cheaper accommodation to commute from workplaces in adjoining Mumbai.

Former IAS officer Sudhirkumar Goyal told PTI that Thane offered cheaper accommodation for people who came to Mumbai in search of employment.

Thane district, which borders Mumbai, recorded an exponential growth of more than 30 per cent in population as per the 2011 census, he said.

Thane city and the district remained under-developed for a long time, offering easy accommodation for the labour class as well as for those who were in middle income groups.

Cheaper local train service connecting almost all major areas of Mumbai is another factor, which helped the migrants settle down as far as 70 to 80 km from their work place in Mumbai, he said.

As a result of the rising population, Thane has also become the district with maximum number of municipal corporations in the country.

The population of Thane district in 2001 was 81,31,849, which rose to 1,10,60,148 in 2011, as per the last census.

An increase in birth rate does contribute to increasing population, but in case of Thane, it might not be a major reason for the rising population as migration plays a major role, an expert said.

Not only in Thane but the migrant population is increasing in the outskirts of Mumbai. This is the growth of the city. Expansion of cities happens like this. Today it is Thane, but after a few more census, it might be some other district, said Dr K S James, Director of the International Institute for Population Sciences.

Urbanisation is taking place throughout Mumbai, but due to high rates and high cost of living, people are migrating to Thane and other regions in The Mumbai Metropolitan Region where housing rates are cheaper as compared to Mumbai city, he said.

Infrastructure has also improved over the years and made the daily commute to Mumbai a lot more easier, which may explain the high migrant population in Thane, said R B Bhagat, former professor of International Institute for Population Science.

As the global population reached 8 billion, the UN on Tuesday said India's population growth appears to be stabilising which shows that the country's national policies and health systems, including access to family planning services, are working.

India was the largest contributor to the milestone, having added 177 million people, the United Nations said.