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Malegaon: Malegaon and other
adjoining areas in the Nashik district have been neglected for
long by the state and district machineries. However, if District
Magistrate P Velrasu is to be believed, these areas, which
incidentally are part of the fastest growing district in
Maharashtra, are up for a dramatic changeover in the next couple
of years. This, of course, if his vision, which is backed by the
centre and state governments, also receives the much needed local
support.
In an exclusive interview to ummid.com, District Magistrate
P Velrasu while unveiling the impressive mega-plan for the
development of the district said, “The beauty of this region in
the Nashik district is that it has enough landscape for any
officer to envision a model township. In fact it is this advantage
that helped me to devise a plan for the development of the areas,
which people think are neglected.”
Disclosing that he has simultaneously started working on the
various projects which together form his dream plan, Velrasu said,
“We have already spoken to people in and around Chandwad for
acquiring around 10,000 acres of land for Delhi-Mumbai Industrial
Corridor (DMIC) and the construction work will begin very soon.”
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Roadmap to Empowerment: District
Magistrate P Velrasu's visionary plan for the overall
development of the district.
(Google
Map) |
Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC) is a mega infra-structure
project worth US$ 90 billion having nine mega industrial zones of
about 200-250 sq. km, high speed freight line, three ports, six
airports, a six-lane intersection-free expressway and a 4000 MW
power plant. Covering an overall length of 1483 kms between Delhi
and Mumbai, the corridor would be built with the financial &
technical aids from Japan. The district officials have selected
areas in and around Chandwad for the part of the project which
will pass through Maharashtra.
“Some 50 kms away from the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC),
we have identified 12 acres of land near Manmad for building a
state of the art District Sports Complex with all modern
facilities and infrastructure”, Velrasu said.
“The above two projects combined with establishment of the Aligarh
Muslim University (AMU) off campus centre on 250-300 acres of land
near Malegaon will fill the gap the region has in the education
sector”, Velrasu said.
The district officials have identified two pieces of contiguous
lands measuring around 500 acres – one in Rampura and the other on
Malegaon-Manmad highway for the purpose. Establishment of the AMU
sub centre near Malegaon is in crucial stage and will take final
shape once the AMU expert team visits the site for final approval.
The AMU intends to convert this sub centre into a full fledged
university by 2020 when the Aligarh Muslim University (AMU)
completes 100 years of its establishment.
“Drinking water to all these projects will be provided through
River Diversion Scheme, Detailed Project Report (DPR) for which
has already been finalised”, the District Magistrate added.
Highlighting the huge turnover and government funding involved in
these projects, the collector said, “People can surely expect from
these projects returns not only in the form of employment
generation but also in the form of overall socio-economic
empowerment of the entire region.”
With these projects the District Magistrate intends to lay the
grounds for the ultimate declaration of Malegaon – the Muslim
populated town in North Maharashtra, as a district by the state
government.
“These projects will not only help the state government to decide
on the declaration of Malegaon as a district but will also pave
the way for the much needed scope for future development”,
District Magistrate P Velrasu said.
Interestingly, the decision on converting Malegaon into a district is pending
since 1983 when then Maharashtra Chief Minister Abdurrehman
Antulay during his visit to this Muslim dominated town promised to
the Malegaonians in this regard. Insiders recall, Abdurehman
Antulay as the Chief Minister of the state had actually taken a
decision in favour of Malegaon. But because of the political game
of which Malegaon has always been a victim, his decision never saw light of the day.
With the District Magistrate’s ambitious projects and his personal
efforts for the devolvement of this region, people now feel that
if he succeeds in converting his dream projects into a reality, it
surely will compensate the sixty years of negligence meted out to
them by the state and central governments.
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