Pune: Deputy chief minister Eknath Shinde on Sunday directed Maha Metro to conduct a feasibility study and prepare DPR for Chakan-Rajgurunagar and Talegaon-Shikrapur routes.“I have asked the managing director of Maha Metro, Shravan Hardikar, to check the feasibility of the routes and prepare a DRP. Once implemented, these Metro lines would address traffic problems in the area,” Shinde told reporters on Sunday after inspecting the ongoing road repairs in Chakan.Metro authorities have already prepared a DPR for a metro route connecting Chakan with Nashik Phata. Dy CM has sought to extend it further up to Rajgurunagar while also proposing another route on the Talegaon-Shikrapur road.He reviewed ongoing road repairs in Chakan with Industry Minister Uday Samant and said the state govt was implementing short-, medium-, and long-term measures to address infrastructure concerns raised by industrialists in Chakan.Shinde said the government wants industries to remain in Chakan because they provide employment opportunities. “Govt wants industries to stay, and it is working to provide them with the necessary infrastructure and services,” Shinde said.Uday Samant, who held a meeting with industrialists before joining Shinde for the inspection in Chakan, said major concerns were related to the Talegaon-Shikrapur road. “The ongoing repairs would address them. Water supply and sanitation minister Gulabrao Patil was likely to visit Chakan on Tuesday or Wednesday to discuss water supply issues.”Wherever possible, he said, water-related works would be taken up under the Jal Jeevan Mission on priority to address scarcity.Deputy CM, who also holds the urban development portfolio, said the district collector had set a 10-month deadline for completing infrastructure works in and around Chakan, with authorities working to finish them ahead of schedule.The draft development plan for Chakan Municipal Council will be approved on priority, he assured residents.On waste management, Shinde said MIDC had allotted land to PMRDA for setting up a waste processing facility. “The district collector has been asked to deploy a private agency to lift waste from the area in the interim,” he said.Shinde highlighted the slow progress of the Talegaon-Shikrapur road and directed officials to deploy different contractors and expedite the work.He said industrial representatives had suggested providing cycle tracks along with footpaths on proposed roads and that instructions had been issued to the district collector accordingly.“We have asked the district collector to ensure that all proposed roads follow a uniform pattern and are integrated, even if they are being developed by different agencies,” Shinde said.Shinde said conventional tar patching was not suitable during monsoon and that alternative technologies were being used for immediate repairs.“As an immediate measure, we are using polymer techno patches, M60 ready-mix concrete and precast panels for road repairs,” Shinde said, adding that the technologies had already been used in Thane, on the Mumbai-Goa highway and in Nashik.The visit came after several industrialists threatened to relocate from Chakan earlier this month, citing poor roads, traffic congestion and many other infrastructural issues. Following criticism from opposition leaders, state govt appointed Pune district collector as the nodal officer to coordinate between agencies working in the MIDC area and expedite infrastructure projects.Shinde said the district collector would coordinate among MIDC, PMRDA, PWD and MSIDC for the works. “Stormwater drainage, footpaths, streetlights and roads were among the issues being addressed through an integrated approach,” he said.“For long-term solutions for roads, some works were to be completed within 10 months. For MIDC roads, we were trying to complete them before March next year,” Samant said. He said Chakan remains among the biggest industrial hubs across the country, and govt is trying to provide all the facilities to the industries here.Taking a swipe at the Opposition, Samant accused political parties of trying to gain mileage from the issue and appealed to them not to politicise it. He said none of the industrialists who attended his meeting told him that they still planned to move out of Chakan.MSEDCL steps up measuresMaharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company Limited (MSEDCL) has stepped up measures to address power disruptions in the Chakan MIDC area amid rising industrial demand.MSEDCL officials said 10 MVA transformers were commissioned at the 33/22 kV Bhamboli and Hyundai substations on Saturday, which would help strengthen the power supply to the industrial belt.MSEDCL director (operations) Dhananjay Aundhekar inspected the power infrastructure in Chakan and directed MSEDCL and Maharashtra State Electricity Transmission Company Limited (MSETCL) officials to coordinate and expedite ongoing works, keeping in view the area’s rapid industrial expansion and future power demand.Aundhekar reviewed infrastructure at MSETCL’s 400 kV Chakan, 220 kV Bridgestone and 220 kV Chakan Phase-II substations.A 50 MVA transformer has recently been commissioned at the Bridgestone substation, while work is underway to install four additional 22 kV feeder bays at the 400 kV Chakan substation. An additional 100 MVA transformer is also proposed at the Chakan Phase-II substation, an MSEDCL official said.
