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Maharashtra is a state on the northern part of India's western coast. Its main centre is Mumbai (also known as Bombay), the commercial capital of India. Maharashtra is mainly agricultural with a well developed industrial sector.

People and Government :

People :

Maharashtra is home to many ethnic groups. The Bhil, the Gond, the Gowari, the Korku, and the Warli tribal groups living in the Satpura and Sahyadri ranges in the north are the aboriginal inhabitants of the region. The Kunbi Marathas are probably the descendants of immigrants from the north in the A.D. 100's.

Parsees arrived in the region in the 1000's, having migrated from Persia. Mumbai has the largest concentration of Parsees in the country (see PARSEES).

About 90 per cent of the population speak Marathi, the regional language. Other languages include English (particularly in Mumbai), Gujarati, Hindi, Telugu, Kannada, Urdu, Bengali, and Malayalam. There is also a large number of dialects, including Konkani on the west coast, and Gondi in the northern regions.

Hinduism is the most popular religion, with Islam and Buddhism as the main minority religions. Most Parsees and Christians live in the cities. The Parsees are highly influential in the business community. There are also many Sikhs in the state (see SIKHISM).

Maharashtra has many festivals throughout the year, the majority of them are Hindu. They include the Ranga panchami Dassera (the day on which the Marathas usually began their military campaigns), and Holi (which marks the beginning of spring). Janmashtami, in July and August, celebrates the birth of Lord Krishna. Men and boys form human pyramids to break pots of curds that have been hung from high places. On Ganesh Chaturthi in Mumbai in August and September, massive figures of the elephant god Ganesh are immersed in the sea. The Muslim festival Edd is celebrated after Ramzan (Ramadan) the month of fasting. Baqreed is a festival of sacrifice and Mohurram commemorates the martyrs of Islam.

Government :

Maharashtra has a governor as its head. The chief minister and council of ministers are elected from the state legislature and are responsible for shaping and carrying out policy. The chief minister is the leader of the largest party in the state parliament. The legislature has two houses: the Vidhan Parishad (legislative council) which has 78 members and Vidhan Sabha (legislative assembly), which has 288 members.

There are 30 districts in the state. A collector administers each district and is responsible for the collection of land revenue and of special state taxes, and for coordinating the work of other departments. At the village level the gram panchayat (village council) operates.

Maharashtra has 48 elected members in the Lok Sabha (lower house), and 19 nominated representatives in Rajya Sabha (upper house) of the national parliament in New Delhi.

Economy :

Agriculture. Agriculture is of major importance in the economy. About 70 per cent of the population depend on farming for a living. About 60 per cent of the total area of Maharashtra is under cultivation. Only one-eighth of that land is irrigated.

The main staple crops are rice, jowar (large millet), bajra (small millet), wheat, and pulses (beans, peas, lentils). The state is also a major producer of oil-seeds. These crops include peanuts and sunflowers.

Important cash crops are cotton, sugar cane, tobacco, turmeric, and a variety of vegetables. The state also produces fruit and has a substantial area devoted to bananas, grapes, sweet limes, mangoes, and oranges.

A major problem in Maharashtra is the scarcity of water. The state government has encouraged a more diversified agricultural system. The government gives assistance to farmers to improve the productivity of their farms. They have promoted higher yielding varieties of rice and wheat. Irrigation dams in areas of low rainfall have encouraged good sugar cane crops. Of the total net sown area, about 12 per cent is irrigated. Effort has also been made to improve the productive potential of dry lands through the integrated Watershed Development Programme.

Forest products include bamboo, and sandalwood. Tendu leaves are used for making cheap cigarettes, locally known as bidi.

Manufacturing :

The state accounts for about 11 per cent of India's industrial units, 17 per cent of its industrial labour force, 16 per cent of industrial investment, and 23 per cent of the value of industrial output.

The Mumbai-Pune complex is the state's major industrial area. Nagpur, Aurangabad, Sholapur, Thane and Kolhapur are also important. Maharashtra's industrial products include chemicals, electrical and non electrical machinery, machine tools, petroleum, pharmaceuticals, and plastic goods. The oldest and largest industry in the state is textile production. Maharashtra also leads the country in the manufacture of sophisticated electronics equipment. Santacruz Electronics Export Processing zone is a free trade zone for the export of electrical goods.

Mining :

In the eastern and western districts, mineral deposits are generally poor. There are small amounts of bauxite, copper, limestone, silica salt, and common salt. Bhandara, Nagpur, and Chandrapur districts in the east have rich deposits of bituminous black coal which is used by the railways and power stations. There is offshore oil at the Mumbai High and the nearby Basin North fields.

Electricity :

Maharashtra produces both hydroelectricity and thermal electricity. The atomic power station at Tarapur, India's first nuclear power plant, is 10 kilometres north of Mumbai.

Film Industry :

The centre of India's film industry is Mumbai. The city produces more than 300 films each year.

Tourism :

There is a large number of sites in Maharashtra which attract visitors. Mumbai has many places of interest and there are also other attractions in the state.

Transportation :

The transport network radiates from Mumbai, which has connections by air, rail, and road with other parts of the country. Mumbai is one of the major international and internal airports in the country. There are domestic airports at Akola, Aurangabad, Kolhapur, Nagpur, Nanded, Ratnagiri, and Sholapur.

Maharashtra has about 5,300 kilometres of rail, of which 60 per cent is broad gauge. The main railway junctions are Mumbai, Nagpur, Manmad, Akola, Pune, and Sholapur. The total road length is about 200,000 kilometres, of which half is surfaced. Five national highways connect the state with Delhi, Calcutta, Allahabad, Hyderabad, and Bangalore.

Land

Location :

Maharashtra is the third largest state of India, in area as well as in population. In shape it is four sided with the western side on the Arabian Sea. The smallest side is the eastern side which borders Madhya Pradesh.

Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat are to the north, and Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, and Goa are to the south.

Land Features :

Maharashtra is a state with great physical diversity. In the west, bordering the Arabian Sea, is the Konkan Strip. This is widest near Mumbai and is nowhere wider than 100 kilometres. In this strip are many small hills and streams.

Behind the Konkan Strip are the Western Ghats. These mountains form the western edge of the Deccan plateau and run for 640 kilometres through the state from north to south. The highest peak reaches a height of 1,400 metres. There are few gaps through which railways and roads run. The western facing slopes are steep, but the eastern facing ones are gentle. Along the eastern slopes the great rivers of the plateau have carved wide valleys.

Between the Narmada Valley in the north and the Krishna Basin in the south is the Deccan Trap. This basin is a series of lava outpourings which reach a depth of 3,000 metres near Mumbai. East of Nagpur the Deccan Trap gives way to gently rolling hills 250 to 350 metres above sea level. The lava rock of the Deccan Trap breaks down into a black soil that is heavy but fertile. The crystalline rocks beneath produce sandy soils that are light in colour and less productive.

Climate :

The monsoon dominates the state's climate (see MONSOON). The southwest monsoon breaks on the coast in the first week of June and finishes in September. Four-fifths of the annual rainfall is received during this period.

The Western Ghats influence rainfall distribution. The coastal Konkan strip is wet. But the interior upland area behind them is much drier. Mumbai receives 270 centimetres a year on average, 95 per cent of which is from June to September. Nagpur on the other hand receives 113 centimetres a year, 87 per cent of which falls during the monsoon.

On the coastal strip of Maharashtra, daily maximum temperatures are fairly uniform throughout the year at an average of 32 °C. The daily minimum temperature is 16 °C in January and 26 °C in June. In Aurangabad, the average daily maximum temperature in May is 40 °C, and 29 °C in January. The minimum is 14 °C in January and 25 °C in May.

Plants and Animals :

The natural vegetation depends largely upon the amount of rainfall an area receives. On the coast, there are bamboo, coconut, mango, myrabolan (for dyeing), and teak. On the plateau, in areas that receive heavy rain, bamboo, chestnut, and magnolia are common. Areas with less than 60 centimetres of rain a year have thorny vegetation.

Deer, hyenas, leopards, monkeys, and tigers live in the forests of the state, which cover less than 15 per cent of the total area. Snakes are common and there are many birds, particularly ducks and peacocks.

Rivers and lakes :