Pune: Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC)’s Udyog Sarathi, an industrial facilitation cell aimed at resolving industry grievances and improving coordination, has failed to bring any real change on the ground, claim industrial associations.The initiative was launched in March this year.Representatives of industry associations claimed that issues such as poor roads and incomplete drainage networks persist despite repeated complaints.“The officials concerned held only two meetings with industry members since the cell was set up. There has been no communication for the last four months,” saidAbhay Bhor, president of the Forum of Small Scale Industries Association.Bhor said during earlier meetings, members raised concerns about inadequate streetlights and CCTV cameras in the MIDC areas, but no action followed. “We were promised monthly meetings, but nothing happened. We still have to approach individual departments for solutions,” he said.Bhor further said that thecivic body resolved only the issue of waste collection by increasing the number of vehicles and installing sirens on them, but many other concerns are still pending.Sandip Belsare, president of the Pimpri Chinchwad Small Scale Industries Association, said the initiative has failed to reach its beneficiaries. “Most industry members are unaware that this cellexists as the civic body has not created any awareness or shared basic information about it,” he said.Belsare said they were promised a dedicated platform like Sarathi to address their concerns, but nothinghappened.He said a similar initiative was launched under the Smart City Mission a few years ago, but then, too, the meetings did not turn into anything concrete.There are over 5,000 industrial units in the Pimpri Chinchwad limits. The Udyog Sarathi Cell was intended to serve as a single-window system for seamless communication between PCMC and industries, promoting a business-friendly environment and sustainable growth.Assistant municipal commissioner Amit Pandit said, “We will soon hold a meeting with the representatives from industrial associations and ensure that all their pending issues are addressed.”Pandit saidhe has sought details about the previous meetings before he took charge of the cell to ensure compliance with the assurancesmade to the industrialists.
