The Union Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) has given its approval for a mega industrial park at Shendra, Aurangabad, which would be Maharashtra’s first smart city on the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC). Following this approval, the Aurangabad Industrial Township Ltd, the special purpose vehicle constituted by the Union and state governments to implement the first DMIC node in Maharashtra, will call for bids for infrastructure development in Shendra by mid-June, a senior DMIC official said. “We expect all infrastructure such as roads, storm water drains, water supply network, power cables and so on to be in place within two years of awarding the contract. Accordingly, allotments to industries in Shendra can begin from 2018 onwards,” he added. The Shendra industrial park, spread over 845.26 hectare, is planned on the east of Aurangabad city as a mixed land use area with industrial, residential and commercial development. Spread over three villages-Karmad, Kumbephal and Ladgaon-the industrial park will be adjacent to the existing Shendra industrial area. While the progress on the Shendra park is progressing, work on its sister township, Bidkin, located at the other end of Aurangabad, has been sluggish with the state still left to acquire about 40 per cent of the land required. The entire Shendra-Bidkin industrial belt is proposed to be developed by 2025, the official said. The MoEF expert committee recommended the Shendra project for an environment clearance after authorities addressed a few concerns such as connectivity, water supply and solid waste treatment that had cropped up in a public meeting in December 2012. For connectivity, a network of arterial, sub-arterial and collector roads has been planned, with a 90-metre-wide spine road running throughout Shendra besides primary, secondary and tertiary roads, the Delhi Mumbai Industrial Development Corporation, which had applied for the clearance, informed the MoEF. The industrial park will get water from the Jayakwadi Dam Reservoir on Godavari River, about 40 km from the site, to meet a daily estimated demand of 27-30 million litres. Besides, the corporation said it has designed a solid waste management system with a waste management facility proposed over a 3.62 hectare area in the east of the industrial development. While recommending a clearance, the MoEF has set 18 conditions, including allocating 2 per cent of the project cost to corporate social responsibility, establishing an environment management cell, and prescribing a minimum width of 24 metres for internal roads. The DMIC Development Corporation will also have to specifically mention the maximum water usage permitted and effluent generation for every individual unit while giving allotment letters.
