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.
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.