BANKING TRADE AND COMMERCE

COURSE OF TRADE

The destinations and quantum of trade are conditioned to some extent by the availability of the means of transport and communications of which a detailed description is given in the next chapter. However, an appraisal of the commercially important routes is necessary in the context of this chapter. The topographical features of Kolaba district never encouraged the construction of roads in old times. However, in the course of the post-war development programme and the subsequent development works under the two five-year plans, a good many roads were constructed and improved. The Bombay-Poona National Highway, which passes from a commercially important town like Panvel, serves as a connecting link to Bombay, Poona and Sholapur. Thousands of goods trucks daily traverse this road. The Bombay-Konkan-Goa State Highway, which passes from north to south in the district, serves as a connecting link between the Bombay-Poona road, Mahad-Shirwal-Lonand-Pandharpur road, Poladpur-Mahabaleshwar-Surul road, Wakan-Pali-Khopoli road (all state highways), and several major district roads. This highway serves greatly the paddy and rice trade in this district. The Mahad-Shirwal-Lonand-Pandharpur road and Poladpur-Mahabaleshwar-Surul road connect this district with the commercial centres in Satara, Poona and Sholapur districts.

The people of this district have for long felt the need of a railway network in the district. The proposed Diva-Panvel-Uran railway is calculated to satisfy the needs of trade and transport. Karjat is the only taluka served at present by railway.

Kolaba being a coastal district, a number of ports have been serving its inland trade by navigation through its creeks. A detailed account of coastal trade is given in one of the following sections. Murud, Shriwardhan, Karanja, Mora, Revdanda and Rajpuri are the notable ports in Kolaba. The waterways in this district are connected with the ports in this district as well as Bombay and Thana.

However, the inadequacy of speedy and convenient transport facilities which adversely affects the pattern of trade of Kolaba. becomes obvious in the face of the following two factors, viz., that the waterways cannot be used in the normal way during the rains and that many roads are not motorable during the rainy season and places like Shriwardhan and Murud are almost inapproachable in the monsoons.

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