Environmental public hearing on Nagpur-Chandrapur expressway set for November 25 in Samudrapur

An environmental public hearing will be held on November 25, 2026, on the stretch of the proposed Nagpur-Chandrapur access-controlled expressway that passes through Wardha district. The Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB), based in Nagpur, has issued a public notice. The notice invites objections, suggestions and comments from the public, environmental organisations and other stakeholders.

The hearing will be held at Deepali Mangal Karyalaya, opposite Vidya Vikas College, in Samudrapur, Wardha district. It will begin at 11.30 am on November 25, 2026.

The hearing is being held under the provisions of the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change's environmental clearance notification of September 14, 2006, and its amendment of December 1, 2009. The executive engineer of the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC) had asked the MPCB to hold the hearing as part of the environmental assessment process for the proposed project.

Local residents, people likely to be affected by the project, environmental organisations and other interested parties can attend the hearing. They can give their views, objections and suggestions orally or in writing.

Those who wish to send their views in writing can do so, from the date the notice was published until the date of the hearing, to two MPCB offices. The first is the MPCB Regional Office, Nagpur, at the fifth floor, Udyog Bhavan, Civil Lines, Nagpur-440001. Its phone number is 0712-2560852 and its email is ronagpur@mpcb.gov.in.

The second is the MPCB Sub-Regional Office-II, Nagpur, also on the fifth floor of Udyog Bhavan, Civil Lines, Nagpur. Its email is sronagpur2@mpcb.gov.in.

The Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) report and its executive summary are available for viewing in both English and Marathi. People can see them at designated government offices during working hours.

These include the Wardha Collector's office, the District Industries Centre and the Zilla Parishad. The list also includes the relevant offices of the Union and Maharashtra environment departments, the MPCB headquarters in Mumbai and its Nagpur regional office. The report can also be seen at the sub-divisional officer offices, tehsil offices, panchayat samitis, municipal councils and gram panchayat offices in the areas covered by the project.

The notice was issued by Sushilkumar Rathod, Sub-Regional Officer-II of the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board, Nagpur. The November 25 hearing will give residents and other stakeholders a chance to raise their environmental concerns and record their suggestions. It is part of the project's environmental assessment process.