In UP, east to meet west via expressway

In a major step towards strengthening infrastructure facilities in Uttar Pradesh, Chief Minister Mayawati on Wednesday formally announced the construction of a 1,000-km-long Ganga Expressway from Noida to Ballia, linking western Uttar Pradesh to its eastern end.

In a major step towards strengthening infrastructure facilities in Uttar Pradesh, Chief Minister Mayawati on Wednesday formally announced the construction of a 1,000-km-long Ganga Expressway from Noida to Ballia, linking western Uttar Pradesh to its eastern end.

The construction on the eight-lane expressway, costing about Rs 40,000 crore, will begin in January next year and the state government is hopeful of finishing it in three years. Starting from Noida, the expressway will run alongside the Ganga for most of the way.

The Union Ministry of Environment cleared the ambitious project last week and the Uttar Pradesh Government is in the process of finalising the name of consultants who will prepare the techno-feasibility report for it. The project will be executed entirely by the private sector, with the state government only playing the role of a facilitator.

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Addressing a press conference to announce the project, Mayawati said that after the construction of the Ganga Expressway, it will take 8-10 hours to travel between between Varanasi and Delhi instead of the 22 that it takes now.

By linking the eastern part of the state to Delhi, the expressway would be helpful for farmers as well as entrepreneurs. Farmers would be able to reach their produce to Delhi more quickly and perishable items can also be exported.

Mayawati said the construction of the expressway would also end the problem of erosion on the banks of Ganga, helping control floods.

Several link roads will be constructed connecting important cities of eastern Uttar Pradesh and Bundelkhand to the expressway. Eventually, Mayawati hoped, the Ganga Expressway would help bring progress to the backward eastern Uttar Pradesh as well as Bundelkhand.

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Giving more details, Cabinet Secretary Shashank Shekhar Singh said since most of the land through which the eight-lane expressway would pass belonged to the Irrigation Department, only minor land acquisition was required. The Government is also anticipating very little displacement.

Since merely allowing them to charge toll tax is not likely to make the expressway economically viable, private players will be given land at acquisition cost, Singh said.

On the project cost, the Cabinet Secretary informed that Rs 26,000 crore will be spent on construction while Rs 14,000 crore will be the initial investment of the private player for developing housing, industrial, commercial and institutional corridors.

UP Science & Technology Minister resigns

LUCKNOW: Minister for Science and Technology in the the UP Cabinet, Sudhir Goyal, resigned on Wednesday. Once a close lieutenant of Chief Minister Mayawati, Goyal was inducted in the Cabinet for the first time on May 13 and was given responsibility of the Information Department. Later on, he was handed the Science and Technology portfolio. According to some senior leaders, Goyal was neither attending Cabinet meetings. Goyal had been unwell and was hardly seen in any of the party programmes.