Losing the way (Indian Express 16 September 2010)

While the Yamuna Expressway is back on track after last month’s farmer agitation near Aligarh, the fate of the more ambitious Ganga Expressway project of the UP government hangs in the balance. The Expressway, which envisages linking Balia in the east with Greater Noida on Delhi’s doorstep in the west, remains stuck since Chief Minister Mayawati had unveiled it on January 15, 2008, her 52nd birthday.
Mayawati had then announced that the around 1,047-km, eight-lane access-controlled expressway, which would halve the travel time on the route, cutting it down to 10 hours, would be completed in four years. However, despite the grand announcements the only sign on the ground is a foundation stone standing amidst agricultural land in Maldevpur village of Balia. Let alone work on the project, even land acquisition for it is yet to begin.
Asked about the status of the project, an official said, “After the Allahabad High Court quashed the initial environmental clearance in May last year, the Jaypee group submitted a fresh application for obtaining the environmental clearance for the expressway on July 31, 2009, and for the attached land parcels on August 20, 2009. All we know is that the clearances have not yet been given by the Union Government.”
The Ganga Expressway is the largest infrastructure project to be conceived under the public-private partnership model in the country; the Yamuna Expressway a mere 165 kilometre compared to this 1,047 km stretch. It was awarded to the Jaypee Ganga Infrastructure Corporation Limited by the UP Expressway Industrial Development Authority on March 23, 2008 after getting initial environmental clearance on August 23, 2007.
The court ordered stoppage of work and directed the government not to proceed with the project until environmental clearance was obtained in accordance with the provisions of the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986.
The Jaypee group was given 12,000 hectare land at Bulandshahar, Kanshiramnagar, Unnao, Rae Bareli, Allahabad, Pratapgarh, Varanasi and Mirzapur which the Jaypee Group had been given on 90-years lease for development of residential colonies, entertainment facilities, hospitals, colleges etc. By comparison, the group had got merely 2,500 hectares along the Yamuna Expressway.
Incidently, several petitions were filed against the Yamuna expressway also, but the High Court had rejected them all. “The cases of Ganga Expressway and the Yamuna Expressway are different. There, the farmers were ready to give land but wanted higher compensation. In the case of the Ganga Expressway, there are doubts over the feasibility of the project and the way it would impact the Ganga, its natural flow and pollution level”, said Jitendra Singh of the Ganga Mahasabha.
The court ordered stoppage of work and directed the government not to proceed with the project until environmental clearance was obtained in accordance with the provisions of the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986.
The Jaypee group was given 12,000 hectare land at Bulandshahar, Kanshiramnagar, Unnao, Rae Bareli, Allahabad, Pratapgarh, Varanasi and Mirzapur which the Jaypee Group had been given on 90-years lease for development of residential colonies, entertainment facilities, hospitals, colleges etc. By comparison, the group had got merely 2,500 hectares along the Yamuna Expressway.
Incidently, several petitions were filed against the Yamuna expressway also, but the High Court had rejected them all. “The cases of Ganga Expressway and the Yamuna Expressway are different. There, the farmers were ready to give land but wanted higher compensation. In the case of the Ganga Expressway, there are doubts over the feasibility of the project and the way it would impact the Ganga, its natural flow and pollution level”, said Jitendra Singh of the Ganga Mahasabha.