‘Did my best to push city’s development, uplift school standards’: PCMC chief Shekhar Singh transferred to Nashik
Officials said he took updates of improvements in civic schools and students' day-to-day learning as well as ensured all required infrastructure in schools was in place in no time
(Center) During Singh's tenure, Pimpri-Chinchwad reached its highpoint on the cleanliness front, e-governance and saw drastic improvement in the school education system
Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Commissioner Shekhar Singh was on Tuesday transferred as Commissioner of Kumbh Mela, Nashik which will be held in 2027. During Singh’s tenure, Pimpri-Chinchwad reached its highpoint on the cleanliness front, e-governance and saw drastic improvement in the school education system.
The state government has asked Maha Metro managing director Shravan Hardikar to hold additional charge of PCMC commissioner till a new chief is appointed.
You have exhausted your monthly limit of free stories.
Read more stories for free with an Express account.
Singh took charge as PCMC commissioner in August 2022. He was appointed the Municipal Commissioner as well as the administrator. He was only the second administrator after Harnam Singh in the civic body’s 40-year history. Singh had also been district collector of Satara. He had taken charge from Rajesh Patil.
Speaking to The Indian Express, Shekhar Singh said he was satisfied with the opportunity he got to serve the people of Pimpri-Chinchwad. “I was able to do a lot to push the development of Pimpri-Chinchwad. There are still a few things that I wanted to get on track, but the Chief Minister said I am needed in Nashik in view of the upcoming Kumbh Mela,” the outgoing commissioner said.
During his tenure, Singh focused on urban infrastructure, urban mobility and laid emphasis on improving the school education system. Officials said he took updates of improvements in civic schools and students’ day-to-day learning as well as ensured all required infrastructure in schools was in place in no time. “He was very eager to improve the standards of civic schools so that students and parents do not have to run after private schools and pay heft fees,” said an official.
The commissioner said be it urban infrastructure or urban mobility, the civic body was able to push them. “Some people might raise objections, but in the long run they are going to benefit the city immensely. The new Bhakti Shakti to Chakan Metro is one of the projects which will benefit citizens in the long run. In the education field too, PCMC did a lot to bring changes and improvement. The implementation of the Lighthouse project was another achievement of my tenure,” he said.
“I am happy that we could start the Pavana pipeline project going after it was stalled for years. It is now in the tendering process… Also, the Bhama Askhed project which will provide additional water to the city is nearing completion. It should be completed in next six months,” he said.
Story continues below this ad
He said that implementing the next stage of waste to energy process and compressed biogas were important to the city’s environment.The issue of green bonds was another highpoint, he said.
Regarding the controversy over the Draft Development Plan, Singh said, “Yes, there was a controversy over it but it is settled and is being finalised. The DP will play a major role in further pushing the development of the city.”
Singh lamented that the work on new waste to energy plant could have started much earlier. “It is actually a complex project involving the funding mechanism. I wish the project had started much earlier. It is the need of the hour… Its work should start with immediate effect,” he said.
Singh added that the drainage master plan was started. “I wish the plan was implemented during my tenure. It is an ambitious project for the city,” he said.
Story continues below this ad
During Singh’s tenure, PCMC received a clutch awards from the state and central governments for its initiatives on various fronts including cleanliness and e-governance. Civic officials said PCMC successfully raised Rs 200 crore in green bonds exclusively for urban mobility. “This will accelerate the green infrastructure journey for the Harit Setu project, which will offer integrated last mile connectivity,” an official said.
PCMC successfully listed its Rs 200 cr Green Municipal Bonds on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), becoming the first civic body in India and Maharashtra to raise funds exclusively for sustainable mobility urban projects, officials said.
On July 17, 2025, Pimpri Chinchwad ranked first in Maharashtra and seventh nationally among a million plus cities in Swachh Survekshan 24-25, officials said.
Citizens, activists and political leaders had mixed reactions to Singh’s tenure. “I think his tenure had a lot of good things and he also faced criticism, especially over the Draft DP and the narrowing of the size of motorable roads. On the education front, his efforts to lift the standard of civic school was the first of its kind in the history of PCMC,” said BJP MLC Amit Gorkhe.
Activist Manav Kamble said Shekhar Singh was an efficient administrator. “He was the second administrator of PCMC, he has performed credibly. He got things done from officials and responded well to citizens complaints and grievances… In education too, he put in lot of effort to change the schooling system. His Purple Josh event was a big hit in Pimpri-Chinchwad,” he said.
Story continues below this ad
However, Kamble said his decisions to demolished structures in Kudalwadi and Chikhli led to his defamation and bad publicity. “But I think he took these decisions under political pressure,” said Kamble.
Advocate Sushil Mancharkar said, “I think Singh worked only for a limited people including Bhosari MLA Mahesh Landge. He refused to remove the BRTS from PuneMumbai highway and on top of it tried to implement smart footpath scheme which further caused traffic chaos.”
Congress leader Babu Nair said, “Singh had got the opportunity to carry forward projects started by his predecessors. But he lacked pace. He did not push them hard. As a result, the city’s development slowed down.”
Manoj More has been working with the Indian Express since 1992. For the first 16 years, he worked on the desk, edited stories, made pages, wrote special stories and handled The Indian Express edition. In 31 years of his career, he has regularly written stories on a range of topics, primarily on civic issues like state of roads, choked drains, garbage problems, inadequate transport facilities and the like. He has also written aggressively on local gondaism. He has primarily written civic stories from Pimpri-Chinchwad, Khadki, Maval and some parts of Pune. He has also covered stories from Kolhapur, Satara, Solapur, Sangli, Ahmednagar and Latur. He has had maximum impact stories from Pimpri-Chinchwad industrial city which he has covered extensively for the last three decades.
Manoj More has written over 20,000 stories. 10,000 of which are byline stories. Most of the stories pertain to civic issues and political ones. The biggest achievement of his career is getting a nearly two kilometre road done on Pune-Mumbai highway in Khadki in 2006. He wrote stories on the state of roads since 1997. In 10 years, nearly 200 two-wheeler riders had died in accidents due to the pathetic state of the road. The local cantonment board could not get the road redone as it lacked funds. The then PMC commissioner Pravin Pardeshi took the initiative, went out of his way and made the Khadki road by spending Rs 23 crore from JNNURM Funds. In the next 10 years after the road was made by the PMC, less than 10 citizens had died, effectively saving more than 100 lives.
Manoj More's campaign against tree cutting on Pune-Mumbai highway in 1999 and Pune-Nashik highway in 2004 saved 2000 trees.
During Covid, over 50 doctors were asked to pay Rs 30 lakh each for getting a job with PCMC. The PCMC administration alerted Manoj More who did a story on the subject, asking then corporators how much money they demanded....The story worked as doctors got the job without paying a single paisa.
Manoj More has also covered the "Latur drought" situation in 2015 when a "Latur water train" created quite a buzz in Maharashtra. He also covered the Malin tragedy where over 150 villagers had died.
Manoj More is on Facebook with 4.9k followers (Manoj More), on twitter manojmore91982 ... Read More
