Environmental hearing for Package 1 of Samruddhi Corridor held at Wardha
Aishvarya Chunade
August 23, 2017
Wardha, March 24, 2017: The public hearing on environment for Package 1 of Nagpur Mumbai Super Communication Expressway (NMSCE) was conducted here yesterday. The Package 1 of the NMSCE, also known as Maharashtra Samruddhi Corridor (MSC), is from Nagpur to Pimpalgaon in Wardha district.
Addressing the farmers, Mr. Narendra Toke, Environmental Advisor for the mega project, stated that the Package 1 will comprise of 55 villages from Nagpur and Wardha districts. “In this package, 49 hectares of forest land would be taken. While 33 hectares of land fall in Nagpur district, the remaining 16 hectares fall in Wardha district. Various environmental protection measures such as tree plantation, optimum use of water from dams and canals, soil and water testing would also be taken. This will ensure that least harm is caused to the environment,” Mr. Toke said.
He added that besides implementation of pollution control measures, tree plantation would be carried out at adjacent places. “Efforts will also be taken for rain water harvesting and installation of noise barriers apart from regular monitoring of air and water components. We have submitted Environmental Factors Evaluation Report of the project with the central and state department of environment and forest,” Mr. Toke said.
Appealing to the people to extend their full cooperation for the project, he said that the main purpose of constructing the Expressway is to connect the two major cities of the state so that industrialists and farmers are facilitated by getting connected to the JNPT. This will enable them to send their products to Mumbai and eventually export them. “While under-developed areas would get connected to the mainstream, this package will also be useful in increasing the living standard of the people,” Mr. Toke added.
The farmers present at the hearing raised some concerns regarding land acquisition and compensation. After listening to their grievances, Additional District Magistrate, Mr. Mangesh Joshi said, “We have noted down all the concerns raised by the farmers as also their suggestions. We would prepare a detailed report and send it to higher authorities.”
The expressway is an ambitious project of the state government which will catapult the Stateâs growth by 20 years through a holistic process that integrates road connectivity with sustainable rural development through agribusiness ecosystems and multidimensional economic activities. The Corridor is a 702-km superfast communication expressway between Nagpur and Mumbai, connecting 10 districts, 24 talukas and 385 villages of Maharashtra that will reduce the travel time between the two cities from 16 hours to 8 hours flat.
This process in turn will generate employment, fuel growth in agriculture and related activities and lay the foundations of a robust infrastructure and eventually contain rural migration. Nagpur-Mumbai Super Communication Expressway would be the fastest in Asia.
