Among the projects, the officials said, the civic body was working to set up 20 electric vehicle charging stations in the city at INR 10 crore.Centre has directed the Nashik Municipal Corporation to speed up projects under the National Clean Air Programme (N-CAP) to ensure at least 70% utilisation of the total INR 87 crore received under the initiative so far by March 2025.
The civic body has managed to spend only INR 47 crore on various projects under the initiative against a total of INR 87 crore it received between April 2019 and March 2022. The projects under N-CAP include EV charging stations, an electric crematorium, a construction and demolition waste processing plant, procurement of dust sweeping machines, construction of a cycle track and footpath on Trimbak Road, construction of a depot for e-buses at Adgaon truck terminal, vertical gardens and solar rooftops, among others.
Naresh Pal Gangwar, additional secretary, Union ministry of environment, forest and climate issued the instructions to the civic body in this regard during a meeting on the clean air programme in Mumbai on Wednesday.
Civic officials told TOI that Centre had directed them to speed up the N-CAP projects and spend maximum funds by March 2025. "Although the Centre has told us to spend at least 70% of the total funds received under the initiative so far, we are planning to ensure a spend of up to 90% of the total funds of various projects," a senior NMC official said.
The officials said several projects were in various stages of completion. "The tender process for most of the projects has been completed, and the works have started. Our goal is to complete the projects as early as possible," the official said.
Among the projects, the officials said, the civic body was working to set up 20 electric vehicle charging stations in the city at INR 10 crore. "All these stations are expected to be operational in the next two to three months. We are expecting at least five EV charging stations to become operational in Jan next year. We have already received power connections from the Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company Limited for 10 EV charging stations," another civic official said.
The electric crematorium project is also in progress and expected to be completed in the next few months.
