Bilimora
Bilimora is a city situated on the banks of the river Ambika, in Gandevi taluka & Navsari district of Gujarat state, in India. The city comes under the purview of the Surat Metropolitan Region. The city is roughly south of the city of Surat and is the southernmost point of the Surat Metropolitan Region and the Metropolis of Surat. It is linked to Surat by SH 6 and SH 88. In the late 18th century, the Baroda State established a naval station at Bilimora, a port about south of Surat, known as Bunder Bilimora Suba Armor. A fleet of 50 vessels were stationed here, mostly sailboats, cargo vessels for trading and military vessels to secure the sea from the Portuguese, the Dutch and the French. Geography Bilimora is located at . It has an average elevation of . Bilimora is the second largest city in the Navsari district after Navsari city. The city is supposed to have been surrounded by three rivers: Ambika from the north, Kaveri river from the south, and the Karera river passes close by. People and culture Most of the population is of Gujarati, Marathi, Muslim and other north Indian states particularly that of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. Also, a large number of the Sikh community which were stationed there as part of a refugee camp during partition remain in Bilimora. Although Bilimora is situated in the state of Gujarat, it has a lot of cultural influence from Mumbai which is around 220 km away. It takes 3 hours by train and 4 hours by road to reach Mumbai from Bilimora. Transport Bilimora is well connected through road, rail & sea. It takes 3 hours maximum by train and 4 to 5 hours by road from Mumbai. The closest domestic & international airport is Surat International Airport, the airport is 79.4 km north-west from Bilimora, located in Surat city. The other international airport is Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport, the airport is 213.8 km south from Bilimora, located in Mumbai. Bilimora is the only rail junction in the Mumbai division line of the Western Railway (India), from which a narrow gauge line separates from the broad line to arrive at Waghai in the Dang District. It is said to be that this narrow gauge line is to be converted into broad gauge and will be extended up to Manmad. Bilimora will be well connected through Maharashtra; the survey has been done and the project is to be evaluated for estimate. The town of Chikhli is about 10 km to the east, which is on National Highway 8. It is directly connected to Saputara - a hill station in Gujarat - by bus. The buses come from Bilimora and also from Surat to Nasik or Pune via Bilimora - Saputara. The town is about 25 km north of the city of Valsad and about 25 km south of the district headquarters Navsari. Banks & ATM Bilimora has all major banks, including: Dena bank, the Bank of Baroda,