Mayawati hopes to ride expressway into 2012 polls

The Yamuna Expressway is one of the most ambitious projects of the Mayawati government. The 165-km-long,six-lane highway,seeking to reduce travelling time between Greater Noida and Agra to 90 minutes,is the only project of this scale being developed in the state under the Public Private Partnership model.

With a lot riding on it,Chief Minister Mayawati hoped to complete the entire project by March 2011 — well in time for the Assembly elections scheduled in 2012. However,the agitation may hit the project that’s already lagging behind because of several factors. While land for the entire carriageway of the Expressway is with the authorities,it is that meant for townships being developed alongside that’s facing a protest.

The proposed Expressway is to pass through six districts — Gautam Budh Nagar,Mahamaya Nagar,Bulandshahr,Aligarh,Mathura and Agra. The land for development given to JP Infratech along the main project is at five locations in Gautam Budh Nagar,Agra and Aligarh.

UP has planned as many as nine expressways for different regions of the state on PPP model but work on no other expressway has started. Another Expressway it is developing — the 1,047-km-long Ganga Expressway from Greater Noida to Ballia — was to be completed by 2012 but is yet to take off.