History of Matheran hill station in India

The history of the village of Materan, located in the vicinity of the mountain of the same name not far from Mumbai, is considered. The village and the surrounding landscape act as a sort of topogrone, which reflects the transformation of the socio-cultural situation and attitudes towards environmental problems in India during the XIX-XX centuries. Since the development of a tiny mountainous area, the pressure on the environment in the mountainous surroundings has greatly increased, both at the expense of local residents and at the expense of tourists. The author is a witness of the socio-economic movements of the settlement and environmental changes. The first information about Materan is found in the report of Colonel Delamens, who was looking for a place for a military sanatorium, and dates back to 1829. The proposal to place a hospital here was rejected by the British military authorities due to insufficient sources of drinking water. In 1850, Hugh Poinz Melet, the manager of Thanna, made another attempt to explore the surrounding mountains, including Materan. The main condition for the development of the mountain Materan and the establishment of a settlement here was the discovery of water sources ...