Around 20 small-scale companies operating in the Chakan MIDC area near Pune have decided to shift their operations to the Khandala MIDC area in Maharashtra, citing severe traffic congestion and inadequate infrastructure. 
Company owners announced the decision at a press conference in Pune, saying that the traffic situation has reached a point where employees are unable to reach factories on time and the movement of goods is being disrupted. They said repeated appeals to the government have not resulted in enough improvement on the ground. 
Business owners said traffic jams in and around Chakan MIDC can continue for four to five hours at a time. The delays are affecting employee attendance as well as production schedules and are resulting in financial losses for companies operating in the industrial belt. 
The owners said they had decided to move their plants to Khandala MIDC because they considered its infrastructure to be better and traffic congestion to be lower. They also said the government had been giving assurances about resolving the Chakan traffic problem, but that they had not seen tangible improvement so far. 
The concerns come despite the state government acknowledging the seriousness of the infrastructure problems in Chakan. Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis had said the issues raised by businesses and residents were genuine and that infrastructure upgrading work would be taken up after the monsoon. 
Officials have also started directing departments to take immediate measures to address road and traffic problems in Chakan and the adjoining Talegaon industrial areas. MIDC CEO Deependra Singh Kushwah and Pune District Collector Jitendra Dudi instructed officials to focus on road repairs, parking arrangements and removal of encroachments. They also directed that pending repairs on national highways be completed by August 31. 
The district administration is also planning to work with town planning engineers to examine the development of the industrial areas and prepare measures aimed at supporting more sustainable growth. 
The traffic problem in Chakan has been a recurring concern for industries and commuters. The area forms part of Pune's important automobile and manufacturing belt, with a large concentration of factories and movement of employees, commercial vehicles and freight. Earlier reports have also highlighted pothole-ridden roads and encroachments as factors worsening congestion and affecting industrial transportation. 
The authorities have been considering several measures to address the problem. The Talegaon-Chakan-Shikrapur corridor is also part of a larger highway development plan intended to improve movement through the industrial belt. The state cabinet has approved an elevated highway project covering the corridor, with the project planned to include a four-lane elevated road along with a parallel ground-level road between Talegaon and Chakan. The Chakan-Shikrapur section is planned for upgrading as a four-lane ground-level highway. 
The foundation stone for the Talegaon-Chakan-Shikrapur highway project was laid as part of a group of major highway projects in the Pune region. The 53.2-kilometre corridor is intended to improve connectivity and reduce congestion along one of the region's key industrial routes. 
PMRDA is also working on bypass links intended to reduce traffic pressure in the Chakan and Talegaon industrial belts. These projects are expected to improve the movement of freight and other vehicles once completed. 
For the companies considering relocation, however, the immediate concern remains the condition of roads and the daily loss of time caused by traffic. The owners said they would prefer to continue operations in the existing industrial region if the infrastructure problems are addressed, but prolonged delays have made relocation a practical consideration for their businesses. 
The situation also puts pressure on authorities to ensure that promised road and infrastructure measures translate into visible improvements. With Chakan serving as a major industrial centre, continued traffic and infrastructure problems can affect not only individual companies but also employee mobility, freight movement and the wider manufacturing ecosystem in the region. 
Sources PTI