Desh · Deccan Inland Plateau
How to reach
By air
- Pune International Airport, Lohegaon (PNQ) — The region's gateway, shared with an air force station, with limited international service. A new airport at Purandar has been announced repeatedly and is not yet operating.
- Chhatrapati Rajaram Maharaj Airport, Kolhapur (KLH) — Domestic connections only; the practical entry for the ghat-foot belt.
By rail
- Pune Junction (PUNE) — On the Mumbai–Solapur–Chennai trunk; the Mumbai approach climbs the Bhor ghat with bankers attached.
- Miraj Junction (MRJ) — The southern hub, where the Pune–Kolhapur, Bengaluru and Hubballi lines meet.
- Kolhapur (Chhatrapati Shahu Maharaj Terminus) (KOP)
- Satara (STR) — The station is about 10 km from the town, on the ghat side.
- Solapur (SUR) — For Pandharpur and the eastern dryland; Pandharpur itself has a small station on a branch line.
By road
NH 48, the Mumbai–Pune–Satara–Kolhapur–Belagavi corridor, which is the region's spineMumbai–Pune Expressway, climbing the Bhor ghat in tunnelsNH 65, Pune to Solapur via the Bhima basin — the road most wari traffic usesThe ghat roads west — Amba, Phonda, Kumbharli and Varandha — connecting to the KonkanKhambatki ghat between Pune and Satara, the plateau's internal step
By water
Local boats on the Ujani backwater at Bhigwan for birdingBoating on Shivsagar, the Koyna reservoir, from Tapola
Getting around
Autos and app cabs in Pune and Kolhapur, plus a two-line Pune metro. State transport buses reach every taluka town and are the only way into the dryland villages. During the wari, roads along the palkhi routes are effectively closed to through traffic for days at a time — check which route is active before driving in Ashadh.
How to reach Desh by air, rail, road and water, and how to get around once there. (7)