पिछले कई सालों से न सिर्फ केन्द्र सरकार ने बल्कि बिहार सरकार ने भी बाढ़ कार्यवाही योजना का गलत निर्धारण किया है। सन 1954 से जब नेपाल इस मामले में एक पक्ष बना है तबसे लगातार पूरी जिम्मेदारी नेपाल पर थोपना काफी आसान हो गया है। तथ्यान्वेषण दल को यह देखकर अचम्भा हुआ कि न तो केन्द्र सरकार और न ही बिहार सरकार ने यह आकलन करने के लिए कोई सर्वेक्षण किया है कि बाढ़ नियंत्रण उपायों का समाज के समाजिक आर्थिक परिस्थिति पर क्या प्रभाव पड़ा है। यही स्थिति नेपाल में भी है।
तथ्यान्वेषण दल का यह मानना है कि मौजूदा समस्या का मूल कारण तटबंध ही नहीं है। दल इस स्थिति के हल के लिए निश्चित नीति निर्णय चाहता है। हालांकि जिसे गैरकानूनी माना जाता है, लेकिन पानी में फंसे लोग अपने आस-पास जमा पानी को निकालने के लिए तटबंध को तोड़ने का सहारा लेते रहते हैं। इसके पक्ष में सामान्य सोच यह है कि तटबंधों को तोड़ने से कोई अनचाही परिस्थिति नहीं पैदा होती है।
भारत में तटबंधों को तोड़ने के प्रमाण भी हैं। दामोदर नदी में 1854 में बने 32 किमी लम्बे तटबंध को 1869 में ढहा दिया गया। ब्रिटिश सरकार को बहुत जल्दी यह महसूस हो गया कि इससे बाढ़ नियंत्रण नहीं होता, तटबंधों से उपजाऊ जमीने डूब में जा रही थीं, जिसके लिए उन्हें मुआवजा देने को बाध्य होना पड़ता था। ''तटबंध टुटने के कारण मुआवजा देने की सबसे पहली घटना 1896 की है जब पश्चिम बंगाल के बर्दवान जिले में किसानों को 60,000 रुपये मुआवजा दिया गया।''
हॉलैंड में राइन और मियूस नदी को बांधने में असफल रहने पर वहां के जलविज्ञानियों ने सुरक्षा का एक खास तरीका अपनाया है जिसे 'नदी के उन्मुक्त प्रवाह की जगह' कहा जाता है। इस नई आवधारणा न सिर्फ जानकारी युक्त चर्चा की जरूरत है बल्कि यह व्यापक राजनैतिक समर्थन पर आधारित है। ऐसे उपायों पर उत्तर बिहार के निवासियों से चर्चा करके निष्कर्ष पर पहुंचने की जरूरत है, लेकिन इसके लिए केन्द्र सरकार और बिहार सरकार के बीच आपसी सहमति की जरूरत है।
जब तक दोषी अधिकारियों एवं संस्थाओं को जवाबदेह नहीं बनाया जाएगा तब तक न सिर्फ वे पिछली गलतियां दोहराई जाएंगी बल्कि नई अवधारणाओं और रणनीतियों को लागू करना भी मुश्किल होगा। यह बात जल संसाधन से जुड़ी संस्थाओं के मूल, क्रियाकलाप, और कानूनों से साफ होती है। वे सभी बड़ी परियोजनाओं के नियोजन, डिजाइन और क्रियान्वयन के लिए ही बनी हैं। यह बात भी साफ है कि वे भागीदारी युक्त या पारदर्शी संस्थाओं के प्रति इच्छुक भी नहीं हैं। ये संस्थाएं पूरी नदी घाटी की आवश्यकताओं, संसाधनों और प्राथमिकताओं को शामिल करने में असफल रही हैं। इस तरह ''मौजूदा संस्थाओं को पूरी तरह नये सिरे से खंगालने (परिभाषित) की जरूरत है''.
ऐसे मामलों में किसी न्यायिक या प्रशासनिक जांच से आपराधिक जिम्मेदारी नहीं तय होती है, क्योंकि ऐसे आयोगों और समितियों के निष्कर्ष तो निश्चित ही होते हैं। यह तो किसी परिणाम पर न पहुंचने की नियमित प्रक्रिया है। हालांकि, न्यायमूर्ति राजेश बालिया आयोग के विचारार्थ विषय में कोसी उच्च स्तरीय समिति के बारे में स्पष्ट किया गया है, लेकिन उसकी विशेषताओं पर ध्यान देने की जरूरत है। लेकिन ऐसे आयोगों की सबसे बड़ी सीमा यह होती है कि ये समस्या के लिए जिम्मेदार मौजूदा संस्थाओं से न तो सवाल करती हैं और न तो कर सकती हैं। आयोगों द्वारा तैयार ऐसी सैकड़ों रिपोर्टों में धूल पड़ रही हैं और उन्हें दीमक चाट रहे हैं। इनमें से ज्यादातर का उपयोग चुनावों में प्रचार के लिए होता है। इस तरह, सबकी परिणति एक जैसी होती है।
आइए इस आपदा पर भारतीय प्रधानमंत्री, बिहार के प्रधानमंत्री और बिहार के मुख्यमंत्री के बयान पर एक नजर डालते हैं। कोसी क्षेत्र के कुशहा में तटबंध में कटाव आने के बाद बिहार के मुख्यमंत्री ने 19 अगस्त 2008 को भारत के विदेश मंत्री से निवेदन किया कि वे कोसी समझौते के अनुसार नेपाल में कटाव के मरम्मत के लिए नेपाल सरकार को कानून व्यवस्था सुनिश्चित करने के लिए सम्पर्क करें।
नेपाल के सुंसारी जिले के लौकाही पुलिस थाना में 16 अगस्त 2008 उन असामाजिक तत्वों के खिलाफ एक प्राथमिकी दर्ज कराई गई है जिनके द्वारा ऐसी परिस्थिति उत्पन्न की गई कि सभी इंजिनियरों को वहां से भाग जाना पड़ा।
20 अगस्त 2008 को नेपाल के प्रधानमंत्री ने स्थिति का जायजा लेते हुए कहा कि, ''कोसी समझौता एक भयंकर ऐतिहासिक भूल थी'' और ''इसे लोग पीड़ित हैं''। समझौते की वजह से तटबंधों का निर्माण हुआ है और बड़े बाध का प्रस्ताव है। भारत के प्रधानमंत्री ने 28 अगस्त 2008 को बाढ़ग्रस्त इलाकों का हवाई सर्वेक्षण करने के बाद इस समस्या को ''राष्ट्रीय आपदा'' घोषित किया और राहत और पुनर्वास के लिए तत्काल 1000 करोड़ रुपये जारी करने की भी घोषणा की।
यह ध्यान देने योग्य है कि भारत सरकार ने 2004 में घोषित अपने राष्ट्रीय न्यूनतम सहमति कार्यक्रम के तहत उत्तरी बिहार के बाढ़ नियंत्रण, ड्रेनेज आदि योजनाओं को पूरा करने का संकल्प लिया था (जिसके लिए नेपाल सरकार की सहमति भी जरूरी है)। उस वादे को किए हुए चार साल हो गए लेकिन अब फिर अगस्त 2008 में उन्होंने कहा कि, ''नेपाल सरकार से समन्वय के लिए वे एक उच्च स्तरीय दल गठित करेंगे''। उन्होंने यह भी वादा किया कि तटबंध के मरम्मत, रखरखाव व सुरक्षा के लिए वे बिहार सरकार को आवश्यक तकनीकी सहायता भी उपलब्ध करएंगे। इस तरह की आश्वासन वाली बातें तो पिछले 60 सालों से की जा रहीं है। इससे पहले भारत सरकार ने नेपाल के जल संसाधन मंत्रालय के अंतर्गत जल आधारित आपदा निवारण विभाग के निवेदन पर 7 जुलाई 2008 को नदियों के तटबंध के मरम्मत व विकास के लिए अनुदान दिया था।
इन सबसे साफ है कि जमीनी स्तर पर जो भी बदलाव आए, ज्यादातर बाते वैसे ही रहती हैं। तटबंध के मरम्मत का कार्य जारी है और तात्कालिक हल के तौर पर उसके मार्च 2009 तक पूरा हो जाने की उम्मीद है। ऐसे समय में उत्तारी बिहार और नेपाल में कोसी के बाढ़ क्षेत्र का दौरा करके लौटे तथ्यान्वेषण दल की मांग है कि इस पूरी आपदा पर और खासकर उत्तरी बिहार में कोसी घाटी के ड्रेनेज (जलनिकासी) पर एक श्वेत पत्र जारी किया जाय। ताकि मौजूदा नीतियों के कारण बंद हुई ड्रेनेज समस्या को हल किया जा सके। इससे समस्या और बाढ़ प्रवण क्षत्र में बढ़ोतरी करने वाली तथाकथित विपरीत हल की परिस्थतियों का पता लगना चाहिए।
इस रिपोर्ट का कहना है कि बांध, तटबंध और उनकी मरम्मत जैसे बाढ़ नियंत्रण के उपायों से सिर्फ तात्कालिक राहत मिल सकती है। ऐसी परिस्थिति में नदी के बहाव क्षेत्र में बदलाव के कारकों का सूक्ष्म स्तर पर दीर्घकालीक और सावधानीपूर्वक अध्ययन की जरूरत है। यहां यह स्पष्ट करने की जरूरत है कि तटबंध के कटाव को बंद कर दने से ही समस्या का स्थायी हल नहीं हो जाएगा। परिवर्तनकारी जलविज्ञान को नजरअंदाज करने पर बांध और तटबंध की उम्र 25 साल होती है और बदलावों को ध्यान दते हुए तकनीकी सुधार करते हुए 37 साल होती है।
कोसी तटबंध में अब तक का यह आठवां कटाव है, जिसमें नेपाल के चार पंचायत, उत्तरी बिहार के 4 जिले सहरसा, सुपौल, मधेपुरा और अररिया इस बाढ़ से बुरी तरह प्रभावित हुए हैं। इनके अलावा 12 अन्य जिले पुर्णिया, खगड़िया, मुजफ्फरपुर, पश्चिमी चंपारण, सारण, शेखपुरा, वैशाली, बेगुसराय, पटना, और नालंदा भी इस बाढ़ से प्रभावित हुए हैं। एक अनुमान के अनुसार करीब 35 लाख लोग इस बाढ़ से प्रभावित हुए हैं। बिहार सरकार के रिपोर्टों के अनुसार पिछले साल 22 जिलों में 48 लाख लोगों को बाढ़ के कारण सहायता की जरूरत थी। इससे साफ है कि घटना के पैमाने का अनुमान न कर पाने से इतनी बड़ी आपदा आई। बाढ़ के पानी का सबसे पहला कार्य यह होता है कि अतिरिक्त पानी की निकासी करे। लेकिन इंजिनियरिंग हस्तक्षेप के करण ऐसा नहीं हो पाया।
नदियां तो बसाती हैं. उजाड़ने का धंधा उन्होंने कब से शुरू कर दिया? अगर यह सवाल आप पूछते हैं तो आपको थोड़ा इतिहास, भूगोल समझना होगा. उससे भी ज्यादा बिहार की राजनीति और अर्थशास्त्र समझना होगा. फिर आपकी समझ में आ जाएगा कि बसानेवाली नदी उजाड़ने का धंधा कैसे शुरू कर देती है.
बाढ़ से उबरने के नाम पर आजादी के बाद अब तक 1600 करोड़ रूपया खर्च किया जा चुका है. यह पैसा पानी में बह गया हो ऐसा नहीं है. इस पैसे ने यहां बाढ़ को बढ़ाया है. ठेकेदारों की एक चाक-चौबंद जमात पैदा की है. उन ठेकेदारों की पीठ पर राजनीतिक दलों और योजनाकारों की एक भारी-भरकम फौज पलती है. जो साल दर साल बाढ़ को बिहार की नियति बनाने का पक्का इंतजाम करती जाती है.
इन योजनाओं की ही प्रभुता है कि 1950 के दशक में जहां 25 लाख हेक्टेयर जमीन पानी में डूबी रहती थी वहीं अब 68.8 लाख हेक्टेयर जमीन पर स्थाई रूप से पानी का डेरा है. कोई भी पूछेगा कि यह कैसी योजना हुई कि दवा करते गये और मर्ज बढ़ता गया. ब्रह्मदेव चौधरी बाढ़ से भले ही तबाह हों फिर भी वे कोसी को नहीं कोसते. हमारे एक साथी ने उनसे पूछा कि अगर प्रधानमंत्री राहत योजना के तहत आपको पैसा मिले तो क्या आप बाढ़ से निपटने के लिए तटबंध बनाएंगे? ब्रह्मदेव ने समझा हम सरकार के नुमाइंदे हैं इसलिए हमें ही संबोधित करते हुए उन्होंने कहा "जितना पैसा आप तटबंध बनाने के लिए देंगे उससे ज्यादा पैसा हम आपको देते हैं लेकिन यहां कोई तटबंध मत बनाईये."
बाढ़ से उबरने के लिए जिन तटबंधों को रास्ता समझा गया वही तटबंध अब बाढ़ और विस्थापन के कारण हो गये हैं.
तटबंध का यही वह रोग है जिसे इलाज समझ लिया गया है और हर साल सरकार इसे पवित्र कर्मकाण्ड मानकर पूरा करती है. बाढ़ से निपटने की सारी योजनाएं तटबंध बनाने के नाम पर आकर सिमट जाती हैं. जो कि बाढ़ को ही बढ़ाता है. अकेले कोसी में हर साल 5 लाख 50 हजार टन से ज्यादा गाद आती है. समय के साथ पानी तो बह जाता है लेकिन गाद पीछे छूट जाती है. यह गाद उन तटबंधों के कारण वहां स्थाई डेरा डाल देती है जिसे समाधान मानकर पेश किया गया था. अब साल दो साल में वह तटबंध ही बेकार हो जाता है इसलिए हमको फिर एक नया तटबंध बनाने की जरूरत पड़ती है. और इस तरह यह एक चक्र बन जाता है.
अकेले उत्तर बिहार में 8.36 लाख हेक्टेयर जमीन सालभर पानी में डूबी है. यह कुल इलाके का 16 प्रतिशत बैठता है. लगभग 80 लाख लोग बाढ़ के सीधे प्रभाव में हैं. जाहिर सी बात है प्रभावित लोग या तो गरीब हैं या प्रभाव के कारण गरीब हो जाते हैं. ऐसे गरीब लोगों के लिए सरकार के पास कोई योजना हो ही नहीं सकती. अगर कोई योजना बने तो सबसे पहले तटबंधों पर पुनर्विचार हो. गरीबों के पास एक ही रास्ता बचता है कि वे जमीन छोड़ दें. और वे यही करते हैं. यहां से दूसरी राजनीति शुरू हो जाती है और प्राकृतिक आपदा और राजनीतिक मूर्खता के शिकार ये लोग अपने ही देश में दोयम दर्जे के नागरिक बना दिये जाते हैं. अब वापस वहां लौट नहीं सकते, शहर उन्हें अपमानित करता है. आप ही बताईये ऐसे विस्थापित लोग कहां जाएं?
अब तक न ऐसा कोई तटबंध बना है और न भविष्य में बनेगा जिसमें कटाव न आए। कोसी नदी के तटबंध में कटाव और पिछले नेपाली और भारत सरकार द्वारा बड़े बांध का प्रस्ताव के तर्क में इस बात पर ध्यान नहीं दिया गया कि कोसी को बांधा नहीं जा सकता।
अपने विशिष्ट भौगोलिक परिस्थितियों और जटिल जलविज्ञान के विशेषताओं के कारण कोसी एक ऐसी नदी है जिसके बारे में अभी व्यापक रूप से समझा जाना बाकी है। यह सही समय है कि नीति निर्माता ''प्रकृति पर नियंत्रण'' करने के अपनी पुरानी अवधारणा का त्याग करें और यह माने कि हमें बाढ़ के साथ जीना सीखना होगा।
Wednesday 17 September 2008
Tuesday 5 August 2008
Ganga expressway hits a roadblock
Govt. disapproves course of alignment of highway in Farrukhabad, Unnao and Ballia districts
Next move depends on the suggestions of District Magistrates and other officials
LUCKNOW: The Greater Noida-Ballia Ganga Expressway project in Uttar Pradesh has hit a roadblock on the proposed course of alignment of the eight-lane access-controlled highway in three districts of the State. The Mayawati Government, however, is determined to remove the roadblocks to smoothen the process of completion of the Rs.30,000-crore project. To be constructed on an embankment on the left side of the Ganga, the 1047-km-long expressway will traverse through 16 districts.
With the course of alignment in Farrukhabad, Unnao and Ballia districts proposed by the developer (JP Group) disapproved by the Government, the promoter is likely to be asked to reconsider the alignment proposal. The possibility of acquiring fertile agricultural land has led the Government to suggest a revision of the alignment proposed.
At an official presentation on the Ganga Expressway project in the presence of State Chief Secretary Atul Kumar Gupta on July 17, the exact alignment of the road in the light of the proposed alignment was discussed threadbare. According to official sources, the views of the concerned district magistrates and the officials of Irrigation, PWD, Forest and Environment departments have been sought by the Government. “The Government will rely on the suggestions of the DMs and other officials before deciding on its next move,” said a senior official on condition of anonymity.
In Farrukhabad district, a 55-km stretch of the expressway was proposed to be built midway between the Ganga and its tributary, the Ramganga, but in the alignment proposal the road was shown on the banks of the Ganga, official sources said. An official said the opinion of the Farrukhabad District Magistrate and the Irrigation Department (Flood Control wing) has been sought by the Government.
In Shuklaganj town in Unnao district, the course of the highway needed to be shifted away from the course of the river on account of the settlements along its bank. The Unnao DM has been directed to submit his report on the proposal.
At the end point of the expressway in Ballia district, which is 10 km before Manjhi Ghat, the road will merge with National Highway No.19. According to official sources, in the alignment proposal, the expressway was shifted away from NH-19 into the fertile agricultural land. “Since land has to be acquired by the State Government in its role as a facilitator, acquisition of land in that particular stretch in Ballia would have been practically impossible,” added the official. He said the proposal has been shot down by the Government.
The Ganga Expressway project has been divided into four individual packages of road sections – Greater Noida to Fatehgarh (Farrukhabad) abut 253 km, Fatehgarh to Dalmau in Rae Bareli district about 305 km, Dalmau to Aurai in Bhadohi district (about 210 km ) and Aurai to Ballia with a length of about 278 km. Construction work in all individual packages will run concurrently.
The course of alignment from Greater Noida to Narora in Bulandshahr district will be on normal embankment, three metres high. From Narora to Ballia it will be on a embankment , 7.5 metres high, which is proposed to be built along the left bank of the river. The starting point of the road project is in Greater Noida, 10 km from the Taj Expressway.
A service lane along the embankment is also proposed to be built on the left bank of the Ganga.
It will serve as a flood protection measure. About 27,000 hectares of land will be used in the construction of the expressway, of which 15,000 hectares will be used for road work and 12,000 hectares for planned development.
Underpasses for local population will also be built.
Atiq Khan, 29/07/2008
The Hindu
UP plans 5 more expressways to boost infrastructure
Lucknow, Jul 25 Though slightly late, the Uttar Pradesh government finally seems to have woken up to the fact that good road connectivity is the key to business linkages and a buoyant economy.
In order to realise that dream, as many as five more expressways are being planned, which will crisscross the state from all corners. These five will be in addition to the Taj expressway and the Ganga expressways, work on which has already begun.
Totaling around 2,500 km, these five expressways have been conceptualised along the major rivers that cut across the state—Yamuna, Betwa, Ghaghra, Ram Ganga and Hindan. Uttar Pradesh Expressways Industrial Development Authority (UPEIDA) is authorised to explore the technical as well financial feasibility of these expressways.
The proposed expressways include, 250 km eight-lane Ghaziabad-Saharanpur-Dehradun expressway on river Hindan, 950-kms long Jhansi-Kanpur-Lucknow-Gorakhpur-Kushinagar expressway, 500-kms Agra-Kanpur expressway on river Yamuna, the 350-kms Bijnore-Moradabad-Fatehgarh expressway on river Ram Ganga and the Lucknow-Barabanki-Nanpara expressway near the Nepal border.
Speaking to FE, a senior official involved in planning the projects revealed that the concept report for the Ghaziabad- Dehradun-Haridwar expressway, which will be the first inter-state venture between Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand, is ready and the preliminary environment clearance on it received.
“Work for initializing this project is in an advanced stage and the government is all set to invite expressions of interest from consultants to prepare a detailed feasibility report on the project,” he said. It has been decided that while the Uttarakhand government would bear the cost of building the Saharanpur-Dehradun stretch of the expressway, Uttar Pradesh will build the stretch from Ghaziabad to Saharanpur.
The project is to be constructed on a build–operate and –transfer basis and would touch Meerut, Baghpat, Muzaffarnagar and Kulesra (Saharanpur), which is on the UP-Uttarakhand border. From there, the expressway will be extended to Dehradun and Hardwar.
Meanwhile, the concept report for the Jhansi-Kushinagar mega expressway, which is being planned on Betwa and Ghaghra rivers at an have been submitted to the state cabinet for approval soon.
In the case of Bijnore-Fatehrarh expressway and the Lucknow-Nanpara expressway, the concept reports are under different stages of preparation, while the Agra-Kanpur project is still in a very nascent stage.
“The PWD is working on its concept and once they feel that the project is viable, they will get a consultant to prepare a report on it” said the official.
“As in the case of the Taj and Ganga Expressways, we plan to take the public-private-patnership route for these projects and would, therefore, not need the Centre for any assistance in funding them. We will raise resources for the projects by leveraging land,”he said.
When asked as to how much land the projects would require, the official said that work on calculating that and other details was on.
Deepa Jainai 26 July, 2008
The Financial Express
Ganga Expressway alignment plan submitted
The alignment for 1, 047 km Ganga Expressway has been completed on paper and submitted to the Uttar Pradesh government.
A presentation of this was made by the UP Expressway Industrial Development Authority (UPEIDA). During the presentation, which was attended by the chief secretary Atul Kumar Gupta and had representatives from all important government departments , all implementation bottlenecks regarding the project were discussed in details. “A view was taken of all essential things in order to maintain the alignment,” said a source, adding that it was decided to break away from the alignment at certain places, due to difficulties in obtaining land, such as in protected forest areas.
Speaking to FE, an official of the government said that now that the on paper alignment for the project has been submitted to the state government, a final approval from the government is expected shortly. “Once the approval comes, we will start off with on ground physical survey”, said the official.
It may be mentioned that the Rs 40,000 crore, eight-laned Ganga Expressway project from Noida to Ballia, is a dream project of Uttar Pradesh chief minister Mayawati and has been awarded to the Jaypee group.
According to sources in the company, now that the project report on the alignment of the expressway is ready, work on land acquisition will start soon. “Now that we know which villages and tehsils the expressway would cut across, we will start identifying the owners of the land and start acquiring it,” he confirmed.
Deepa Jainani, 16 July, 2008
Financial Express
Ramdev against Ganga Expressway project
Adopting a hard stand on UP governments ambitious Ganga Expressway project, yoga guru Baba Ramdev on 29th June, 2008 demanded a complete ban on all types of construction along the banks of the holy river.
The popular yoga teacher also threatened to launch a nation-wide campaign if the government goes ahead with the mega project.
The 1,000-km Noida-Ballia expressway has already drawn flak from several political parties including Congress and the Samajwadi Party. Ramdev also announced to launch a country wide campaign to protect the river and said he aims at keeping a healthy and clean India.
Campaigning under the aegis of ‘Ganga Racksha Manch’, Ramdev demanded the government to declare the Ganges as national heritage.
He also demanded setting up of a central high-powered ‘Ganga Protection Authority’ comprising scientist and experts along with social and religious representatives.
June 30, 2008
PTI
BJP slams Maya for ‘institutionalising’ corruption’
Lucknow, July 15 The state BJP slammed Chief Minister Mayawati on Tuesday for institutionalising corruption, saying that transfers and postings of the officers have acquired the “shape of an industry under the BSP rule”.
The two-day state BJP executive meet, which concluded at Vrindavan, adopted a resolution to highlight the “rampant corruption” in UP under the BSP rule.
Named ‘Clarion call for agitation against corruption’, the resolution alleged that Mayawati, in a span of five years, had amassed huge wealth running into hundreds of crores. Moving the resolution, state BJP vice-president Hridya Naryan Dikshit said Mayawati owed an explanation to the people regarding this. “Mayawati should also tell her Dalit supporters the formula of accumulating huge wealth in such a short duration,” he added.
The resolution alleged that the chief minister was hand-in-glove with the industrial group to whom she had given the contract of the Ganga Expressway project. While doing so, she had rejected the concerns voiced by the environmental groups and religious organisations, the resolution added. The BJP also charged that mafia was ruling the roost in the mining industry and National Rural Employment Guarantee Programme had failed to benefit the rural poor.
Addressing the meeting, Arun Jaitely, the national general secretary in-charge of UP, attacked Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, alleging that his office had been reduced to “Saude bazi ka adda” for settling disputes of corporates and horse trading for the July 22 trust vote.
The party has decided to hold nine rallies in the state starting in Ghaziabad from August 24. Party national president Rajnath Singh and the L K Advani will participate in this rally.
The second rally will be held at Varanasi on August 28, while the remaining seven will be held between September and October 15, said party state president Ramapati Tripathi.
16 July, 2008
Indian Express
Ganga Expressway: A Road to Prosperity or Doom?
Connectivity is a key to development. Unless the places are well connected by roads a country cannot call itself well developed. In our countriy roads had come up pretty early. There are records of road connections between Taxila (now in Pakistan and Patliputra (Patna) during the Mauryan Empire. In the 16th century Pashtun emperor Sher Shah Suri had captured most of the north India and he built a fresh road along the right bank of Ganga between Agra, his capital and Sasaram, his home town and laid the foundation of the Grand Trunk Road (GT Road). This road had seen plenty of ups and downs in the history and politics both. Today it is south Asia's oldest and longest road (2500 km) linking Sonargaon in Bangladesh with Peshawar in Pakistan.
Thus even the history clearly demonstrates the significance of roads. And no doubt there is an urgent need for a direct link between the east and the west Uttar Pradesh. That is why the present U.P. government has launched the 853 km long Ganga Expressway project at a cost of Rs 40 thousand crore linking Ballia in the east with NOIDA in the west U.P. As per an announcement of the U.P. government 36 tehsils of 19 districts will be benefited from this project.
This project will be constructed on the embankments on the left bank of the river Ganga. It may be noted that the left bank of Ganga River is more devastated by floods. Hence millions of flood affected will get relief through this project and the farmers of these areas will get the opportunity to procure two crops, which in turn will improve their financial status.
10 major development areas, each of approximately four to five thousand acres will be developed in the Express-way Project. These areas will be equipped with infrastructure facilities like electricity, water, roads, health services, educational institutions and housing. In the development area, industries will be established in 10 thousand acres. Through five hundred large-scale industries six to seven thousand persons will gain employment while three lakh persons will be directly or indirectly employed in medium and small-scale industries. The local population gets maximum opportunities of employment in these industries, for this technical/commercial educational and training institutes will be established in the development areas in fifteen hundred acres. 20 ITI level, 10 Polytechnic level and 5 Engineering level institutes along with Medical College and various Paramedical schools will also be established providing employment to 20 thousand persons as well as benefiting 20 thousand students. 5 hundred agro-based large and small-scale industries will also be established which in turn will directly benefit the farmers. It is expected that seven to eight lakh persons will either reside or work in these areas in the next ten years. To serve them, commercial establishments, shops, hotels, bus stations, truck terminus, buses and taxies will also operate which in turn will provide employment to one to two lakh persons.
Well all this sounds like a dream come true for the densely populated Ganga-Yamuna Doab.
Development of a state is the responsibility of the government. However, it is also imperative that the government strives for a sustainable development and not just mere development. Whether the current project of Ganga Expressway is sustainable or not needs to be analyzed. To achieve that it is time to know some bare truths about the natural factors that have been operating on the land across which the project is envisaged.
The inter-fluve or the land between the major rivers Ganga and the Yamuna is known as Doab. The rivers Ganga, and Yamuna and their tributaries like Chambal, Tons, Kosi etc have been since ages painstakingly bringing the rock flour ground by them while hurtling down the mountains. This rock flour according to the grain size is either sand, clay or silt. The rivers toiled hard to deposit layers after layers of this material to form the present day's granary, the Doab. Today Uttar Pradesh is what it is because of the hard labor carried out by the rivers, which still continues.
Apart from the need for an expressway there has been a dire need for flood control measures in the region through which the super highway will pass. The government's statement categorically says that the left bank of the river gets more devastated by the floods annually. That is why the need for a bund all along the left bank of the river is stipulated. Question is why more floods along the left bank of the river, compared to the right bank?
Ganga makes a huge arc between the point it emerges out of the Siwalik ranges near Haridwar in the northwest and Patna on the east with a convexity towards southwest. The Yamuna runs more or less parallel to the Ganga till they meet at Prayag. These rivers apart from making the giant arc seldom flow in a straight course, rather their courses are sinuous all along.
To a layman, the two banks of the Ganga appear similar. However, Prof. I.B. Singh an authority on Ganga Plains and an internationally renowned earth scientist of Lucknow University says that boreholes drilled near Panki, on the right bank and Unnao on the left bank of Ganga show a peculiar sub-surface setup. At Panki the top 300 m of the sands and clays recovered from the borehole originated from the Himalayas, while underneath them is found the 'maurung' or coarse red sand which has originated from the older Aravali ranges on the south of Ganga. On the other hand, the top 1500 m pile of sands and clays recovered from the borehole at Unnao have come from the Himalayas and below that is the 'maurung' from the southern hills. Thus he says the left northern (left bank) side of the river 'sank' down by about 1200 m. In other words the Ganga flows through several such lineaments or weak planes formed by the past earth movements. The epicenter of the notorious Bihar earthquake of 15 January, 1934 was also in one of the lineaments followed by the Ganga says Prof Singh.
The river, therefore, apparently calm and flowing forward, eager to meet the sea at the Bay of Bengal has a turbulent history. Since the Indian Plate is constantly moving underneath the Asian Plate, stresses always keep building in the sub-surface. These lineaments unfortunately become release points for such stresses.
Ganga plains are divisible into 'Bhaber', 'Terai', 'Bangar' and 'Khader' areas. Each one of them has a characteristic says Prof Singh. Thus Terai and Khader are famous for lush green vegetation and agriculture. Be it rich sugarcane growing area of Budayun or the guava belt of Unnao, are all situated on the Khader of the Ganga.
Khader's greatest contribution is to make the Ganga flow perennially, says Prof Singh. He says 'Ganga will not dry up even if the Gangotri Glacier melts, but if Khader stops feeding ground water to Ganga, it can go dry'. In addition Khader is one of the richest sources of groundwater to the farms and habitats developed on the surface.
Khader is crossed by several rivulets which drain into Ganga in this region, says Prof Singh. They act as a buffer during the floods when excess water escapes and takes the brunt of the floods.
Ganga is not merely a huge drain that flows through the plains of U.P. It is a mighty river system says Dr Vibhuti Rai a Professor of Geology in the Lucknow University and he too repeats that the difference in the levels of the two banks is because of the constant 'rumblings' in the sub-surface or neotectonism activated by the imperceptible movement of the Indian Plate towards the Tibetan Plate.
Rivers have a peculiar character of scouring the convex side in case the stream makes an arc and sediments brought by the river are deposited on the concave side. In the giant arc of the Ganga this is exactly what the river has been doing since thousands of years. The right bank or the convex side being higher is scoured as a result often cliffs are formed. The river deposits its load of sediments more on the left bank, making it more fertile.
A road that too on a bund all along the left bank of the Ganga would be a catastrophe, says Vibhuti. He says the Ganges is not just an artificially created stream, rather it is a river system joined by several streams. The bund therefore will have to have N number of bridges all along to let the tributaries debouch in to Ganga. In addition Ganga has a flood plain of five to seven kilometers on the left bank.
A river has a normal channel which it occupies during the lean period. Then there is a wider channel which it occupies during the monsoon. The spill over water or the floods spread beyond the wider channel. Usually the flooded part forms a sort of flood pathway of the river. Thumb rule says that the flood pathway should be left undisturbed. We know that we are mighty and we can tame any river. But what we are not trying to understand is the fact that taming a river along a length of few kilometers near a habitation is different than taming the entire 853 km length. The moment the bund comes up it will act as a barrier between the natural slope of the ground on the left bank and stop rain water from reaching the river. As it has happened in many towns, like Lucknow, the bunds of Gomati River cause water logging every year during rains, because they do not permit water to flow to the river. Likewise the Ganga Bund would act as a check dam.
Now imagine the scenario after a few years, the bund on the left bank and the raised right bank both would 'channelise' a river that had been swinging through the plains like braids of a maid. The river would naturally deposit its sediment load in its channel only, as it would not be able to splay out. The stream will gradually choke under the load of its own sediment. This would not only upset the hydrodynamics of the river but will also cause the river water to find escape routes via the tributary streams and many times the nearby habitations would be flooded.
Shashi of Uday Pratap College, Varanasi and A.K. Dwivedi of Gorakhpur University have carried out some studies about the aftermath of the Ganga Expressway Project and published their views in the Current Science. As per their projection 1,047,000 x 8 x 7 cubic meter fertile agriculture land of doab will be usurped in creating the bund along the left bank of the Ganga. They question, is it pertinent to sacrifice fertile land for the road when the food grain crisis is raging throughout the world? In order to make the bund of this magnitude lots of earthwork will be required. Naturally the contractor will excavate it from the nearest point. The excavated ground thus will have giant depressions which will be filled by rain water. Such ponds will be open invitation for mosquitoes and with eastern U.P. already reeling under vector borne diseases, these will add to the misery.
The industries they say can produce bread but can not grow grains. This region has been a granary of U.P. since times immemorial converting it in to an industrial belt may not be prudent!
Shashi and Dwivedi have also raised the problem of disposal of effluents generated by the new industries and townships along the bund. The waterlogged tracts along the river will lead to alkalization of soil thus the fertility of the remaining land will be deteriorated beyond redemption.
Well the problems are many, but the government has already taken a decision, therefore it is not likely to roll back. However, Shashi and Dwivedi have recommended a revival of river transport. This would be a cheap link at least between Bulandshahar and Ballia. It will not involve any earthwork. On the other hand it would help in keeping the Ganga clean. Dr Vibhuti Rai sites example of Yantze River of China. Instead of being a river of sorrow today it fetches millions of Yuan from the tourists as it offers one of the best river cruises.
Ganga has an active flood plain of 5-7 km. This flood pathway looks like an ocean of water during rains. In case construction of a bund with a road atop is the only recourse left to 'develop' the region, the flood pathway should be left untouched says Prof I.B. Singh, because the might of the river is beyond the power of engineering. It can be tamed for some time but not for all times to come.
No doubt industrialization and urbanization of Khader will usher an era of prosperity in the region, but a concretized Khader may stop rainwater to percolate down to subsurface depths. A situation in which Ganga may even dry up says Prof Singh.
Prof Singh suggests that if construction of a bund all along the Ganga with a road atop may be done on the Bangar region as it will have minimum impact on the environment.
The future appears to be too scary to imagine motor vehicles running on the dry bed of Ganga and nearby habitations getting buried under mounds of sand like Thalakkaddu in Karnataka!
by VK Joshi
June 13, 2008
Next move depends on the suggestions of District Magistrates and other officials
LUCKNOW: The Greater Noida-Ballia Ganga Expressway project in Uttar Pradesh has hit a roadblock on the proposed course of alignment of the eight-lane access-controlled highway in three districts of the State. The Mayawati Government, however, is determined to remove the roadblocks to smoothen the process of completion of the Rs.30,000-crore project. To be constructed on an embankment on the left side of the Ganga, the 1047-km-long expressway will traverse through 16 districts.
With the course of alignment in Farrukhabad, Unnao and Ballia districts proposed by the developer (JP Group) disapproved by the Government, the promoter is likely to be asked to reconsider the alignment proposal. The possibility of acquiring fertile agricultural land has led the Government to suggest a revision of the alignment proposed.
At an official presentation on the Ganga Expressway project in the presence of State Chief Secretary Atul Kumar Gupta on July 17, the exact alignment of the road in the light of the proposed alignment was discussed threadbare. According to official sources, the views of the concerned district magistrates and the officials of Irrigation, PWD, Forest and Environment departments have been sought by the Government. “The Government will rely on the suggestions of the DMs and other officials before deciding on its next move,” said a senior official on condition of anonymity.
In Farrukhabad district, a 55-km stretch of the expressway was proposed to be built midway between the Ganga and its tributary, the Ramganga, but in the alignment proposal the road was shown on the banks of the Ganga, official sources said. An official said the opinion of the Farrukhabad District Magistrate and the Irrigation Department (Flood Control wing) has been sought by the Government.
In Shuklaganj town in Unnao district, the course of the highway needed to be shifted away from the course of the river on account of the settlements along its bank. The Unnao DM has been directed to submit his report on the proposal.
At the end point of the expressway in Ballia district, which is 10 km before Manjhi Ghat, the road will merge with National Highway No.19. According to official sources, in the alignment proposal, the expressway was shifted away from NH-19 into the fertile agricultural land. “Since land has to be acquired by the State Government in its role as a facilitator, acquisition of land in that particular stretch in Ballia would have been practically impossible,” added the official. He said the proposal has been shot down by the Government.
The Ganga Expressway project has been divided into four individual packages of road sections – Greater Noida to Fatehgarh (Farrukhabad) abut 253 km, Fatehgarh to Dalmau in Rae Bareli district about 305 km, Dalmau to Aurai in Bhadohi district (about 210 km ) and Aurai to Ballia with a length of about 278 km. Construction work in all individual packages will run concurrently.
The course of alignment from Greater Noida to Narora in Bulandshahr district will be on normal embankment, three metres high. From Narora to Ballia it will be on a embankment , 7.5 metres high, which is proposed to be built along the left bank of the river. The starting point of the road project is in Greater Noida, 10 km from the Taj Expressway.
A service lane along the embankment is also proposed to be built on the left bank of the Ganga.
It will serve as a flood protection measure. About 27,000 hectares of land will be used in the construction of the expressway, of which 15,000 hectares will be used for road work and 12,000 hectares for planned development.
Underpasses for local population will also be built.
Atiq Khan, 29/07/2008
The Hindu
UP plans 5 more expressways to boost infrastructure
Lucknow, Jul 25 Though slightly late, the Uttar Pradesh government finally seems to have woken up to the fact that good road connectivity is the key to business linkages and a buoyant economy.
In order to realise that dream, as many as five more expressways are being planned, which will crisscross the state from all corners. These five will be in addition to the Taj expressway and the Ganga expressways, work on which has already begun.
Totaling around 2,500 km, these five expressways have been conceptualised along the major rivers that cut across the state—Yamuna, Betwa, Ghaghra, Ram Ganga and Hindan. Uttar Pradesh Expressways Industrial Development Authority (UPEIDA) is authorised to explore the technical as well financial feasibility of these expressways.
The proposed expressways include, 250 km eight-lane Ghaziabad-Saharanpur-Dehradun expressway on river Hindan, 950-kms long Jhansi-Kanpur-Lucknow-Gorakhpur-Kushinagar expressway, 500-kms Agra-Kanpur expressway on river Yamuna, the 350-kms Bijnore-Moradabad-Fatehgarh expressway on river Ram Ganga and the Lucknow-Barabanki-Nanpara expressway near the Nepal border.
Speaking to FE, a senior official involved in planning the projects revealed that the concept report for the Ghaziabad- Dehradun-Haridwar expressway, which will be the first inter-state venture between Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand, is ready and the preliminary environment clearance on it received.
“Work for initializing this project is in an advanced stage and the government is all set to invite expressions of interest from consultants to prepare a detailed feasibility report on the project,” he said. It has been decided that while the Uttarakhand government would bear the cost of building the Saharanpur-Dehradun stretch of the expressway, Uttar Pradesh will build the stretch from Ghaziabad to Saharanpur.
The project is to be constructed on a build–operate and –transfer basis and would touch Meerut, Baghpat, Muzaffarnagar and Kulesra (Saharanpur), which is on the UP-Uttarakhand border. From there, the expressway will be extended to Dehradun and Hardwar.
Meanwhile, the concept report for the Jhansi-Kushinagar mega expressway, which is being planned on Betwa and Ghaghra rivers at an have been submitted to the state cabinet for approval soon.
In the case of Bijnore-Fatehrarh expressway and the Lucknow-Nanpara expressway, the concept reports are under different stages of preparation, while the Agra-Kanpur project is still in a very nascent stage.
“The PWD is working on its concept and once they feel that the project is viable, they will get a consultant to prepare a report on it” said the official.
“As in the case of the Taj and Ganga Expressways, we plan to take the public-private-patnership route for these projects and would, therefore, not need the Centre for any assistance in funding them. We will raise resources for the projects by leveraging land,”he said.
When asked as to how much land the projects would require, the official said that work on calculating that and other details was on.
Deepa Jainai 26 July, 2008
The Financial Express
Ganga Expressway alignment plan submitted
The alignment for 1, 047 km Ganga Expressway has been completed on paper and submitted to the Uttar Pradesh government.
A presentation of this was made by the UP Expressway Industrial Development Authority (UPEIDA). During the presentation, which was attended by the chief secretary Atul Kumar Gupta and had representatives from all important government departments , all implementation bottlenecks regarding the project were discussed in details. “A view was taken of all essential things in order to maintain the alignment,” said a source, adding that it was decided to break away from the alignment at certain places, due to difficulties in obtaining land, such as in protected forest areas.
Speaking to FE, an official of the government said that now that the on paper alignment for the project has been submitted to the state government, a final approval from the government is expected shortly. “Once the approval comes, we will start off with on ground physical survey”, said the official.
It may be mentioned that the Rs 40,000 crore, eight-laned Ganga Expressway project from Noida to Ballia, is a dream project of Uttar Pradesh chief minister Mayawati and has been awarded to the Jaypee group.
According to sources in the company, now that the project report on the alignment of the expressway is ready, work on land acquisition will start soon. “Now that we know which villages and tehsils the expressway would cut across, we will start identifying the owners of the land and start acquiring it,” he confirmed.
Deepa Jainani, 16 July, 2008
Financial Express
Ramdev against Ganga Expressway project
Adopting a hard stand on UP governments ambitious Ganga Expressway project, yoga guru Baba Ramdev on 29th June, 2008 demanded a complete ban on all types of construction along the banks of the holy river.
The popular yoga teacher also threatened to launch a nation-wide campaign if the government goes ahead with the mega project.
The 1,000-km Noida-Ballia expressway has already drawn flak from several political parties including Congress and the Samajwadi Party. Ramdev also announced to launch a country wide campaign to protect the river and said he aims at keeping a healthy and clean India.
Campaigning under the aegis of ‘Ganga Racksha Manch’, Ramdev demanded the government to declare the Ganges as national heritage.
He also demanded setting up of a central high-powered ‘Ganga Protection Authority’ comprising scientist and experts along with social and religious representatives.
June 30, 2008
PTI
BJP slams Maya for ‘institutionalising’ corruption’
Lucknow, July 15 The state BJP slammed Chief Minister Mayawati on Tuesday for institutionalising corruption, saying that transfers and postings of the officers have acquired the “shape of an industry under the BSP rule”.
The two-day state BJP executive meet, which concluded at Vrindavan, adopted a resolution to highlight the “rampant corruption” in UP under the BSP rule.
Named ‘Clarion call for agitation against corruption’, the resolution alleged that Mayawati, in a span of five years, had amassed huge wealth running into hundreds of crores. Moving the resolution, state BJP vice-president Hridya Naryan Dikshit said Mayawati owed an explanation to the people regarding this. “Mayawati should also tell her Dalit supporters the formula of accumulating huge wealth in such a short duration,” he added.
The resolution alleged that the chief minister was hand-in-glove with the industrial group to whom she had given the contract of the Ganga Expressway project. While doing so, she had rejected the concerns voiced by the environmental groups and religious organisations, the resolution added. The BJP also charged that mafia was ruling the roost in the mining industry and National Rural Employment Guarantee Programme had failed to benefit the rural poor.
Addressing the meeting, Arun Jaitely, the national general secretary in-charge of UP, attacked Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, alleging that his office had been reduced to “Saude bazi ka adda” for settling disputes of corporates and horse trading for the July 22 trust vote.
The party has decided to hold nine rallies in the state starting in Ghaziabad from August 24. Party national president Rajnath Singh and the L K Advani will participate in this rally.
The second rally will be held at Varanasi on August 28, while the remaining seven will be held between September and October 15, said party state president Ramapati Tripathi.
16 July, 2008
Indian Express
Ganga Expressway: A Road to Prosperity or Doom?
Connectivity is a key to development. Unless the places are well connected by roads a country cannot call itself well developed. In our countriy roads had come up pretty early. There are records of road connections between Taxila (now in Pakistan and Patliputra (Patna) during the Mauryan Empire. In the 16th century Pashtun emperor Sher Shah Suri had captured most of the north India and he built a fresh road along the right bank of Ganga between Agra, his capital and Sasaram, his home town and laid the foundation of the Grand Trunk Road (GT Road). This road had seen plenty of ups and downs in the history and politics both. Today it is south Asia's oldest and longest road (2500 km) linking Sonargaon in Bangladesh with Peshawar in Pakistan.
Thus even the history clearly demonstrates the significance of roads. And no doubt there is an urgent need for a direct link between the east and the west Uttar Pradesh. That is why the present U.P. government has launched the 853 km long Ganga Expressway project at a cost of Rs 40 thousand crore linking Ballia in the east with NOIDA in the west U.P. As per an announcement of the U.P. government 36 tehsils of 19 districts will be benefited from this project.
This project will be constructed on the embankments on the left bank of the river Ganga. It may be noted that the left bank of Ganga River is more devastated by floods. Hence millions of flood affected will get relief through this project and the farmers of these areas will get the opportunity to procure two crops, which in turn will improve their financial status.
10 major development areas, each of approximately four to five thousand acres will be developed in the Express-way Project. These areas will be equipped with infrastructure facilities like electricity, water, roads, health services, educational institutions and housing. In the development area, industries will be established in 10 thousand acres. Through five hundred large-scale industries six to seven thousand persons will gain employment while three lakh persons will be directly or indirectly employed in medium and small-scale industries. The local population gets maximum opportunities of employment in these industries, for this technical/commercial educational and training institutes will be established in the development areas in fifteen hundred acres. 20 ITI level, 10 Polytechnic level and 5 Engineering level institutes along with Medical College and various Paramedical schools will also be established providing employment to 20 thousand persons as well as benefiting 20 thousand students. 5 hundred agro-based large and small-scale industries will also be established which in turn will directly benefit the farmers. It is expected that seven to eight lakh persons will either reside or work in these areas in the next ten years. To serve them, commercial establishments, shops, hotels, bus stations, truck terminus, buses and taxies will also operate which in turn will provide employment to one to two lakh persons.
Well all this sounds like a dream come true for the densely populated Ganga-Yamuna Doab.
Development of a state is the responsibility of the government. However, it is also imperative that the government strives for a sustainable development and not just mere development. Whether the current project of Ganga Expressway is sustainable or not needs to be analyzed. To achieve that it is time to know some bare truths about the natural factors that have been operating on the land across which the project is envisaged.
The inter-fluve or the land between the major rivers Ganga and the Yamuna is known as Doab. The rivers Ganga, and Yamuna and their tributaries like Chambal, Tons, Kosi etc have been since ages painstakingly bringing the rock flour ground by them while hurtling down the mountains. This rock flour according to the grain size is either sand, clay or silt. The rivers toiled hard to deposit layers after layers of this material to form the present day's granary, the Doab. Today Uttar Pradesh is what it is because of the hard labor carried out by the rivers, which still continues.
Apart from the need for an expressway there has been a dire need for flood control measures in the region through which the super highway will pass. The government's statement categorically says that the left bank of the river gets more devastated by the floods annually. That is why the need for a bund all along the left bank of the river is stipulated. Question is why more floods along the left bank of the river, compared to the right bank?
Ganga makes a huge arc between the point it emerges out of the Siwalik ranges near Haridwar in the northwest and Patna on the east with a convexity towards southwest. The Yamuna runs more or less parallel to the Ganga till they meet at Prayag. These rivers apart from making the giant arc seldom flow in a straight course, rather their courses are sinuous all along.
To a layman, the two banks of the Ganga appear similar. However, Prof. I.B. Singh an authority on Ganga Plains and an internationally renowned earth scientist of Lucknow University says that boreholes drilled near Panki, on the right bank and Unnao on the left bank of Ganga show a peculiar sub-surface setup. At Panki the top 300 m of the sands and clays recovered from the borehole originated from the Himalayas, while underneath them is found the 'maurung' or coarse red sand which has originated from the older Aravali ranges on the south of Ganga. On the other hand, the top 1500 m pile of sands and clays recovered from the borehole at Unnao have come from the Himalayas and below that is the 'maurung' from the southern hills. Thus he says the left northern (left bank) side of the river 'sank' down by about 1200 m. In other words the Ganga flows through several such lineaments or weak planes formed by the past earth movements. The epicenter of the notorious Bihar earthquake of 15 January, 1934 was also in one of the lineaments followed by the Ganga says Prof Singh.
The river, therefore, apparently calm and flowing forward, eager to meet the sea at the Bay of Bengal has a turbulent history. Since the Indian Plate is constantly moving underneath the Asian Plate, stresses always keep building in the sub-surface. These lineaments unfortunately become release points for such stresses.
Ganga plains are divisible into 'Bhaber', 'Terai', 'Bangar' and 'Khader' areas. Each one of them has a characteristic says Prof Singh. Thus Terai and Khader are famous for lush green vegetation and agriculture. Be it rich sugarcane growing area of Budayun or the guava belt of Unnao, are all situated on the Khader of the Ganga.
Khader's greatest contribution is to make the Ganga flow perennially, says Prof Singh. He says 'Ganga will not dry up even if the Gangotri Glacier melts, but if Khader stops feeding ground water to Ganga, it can go dry'. In addition Khader is one of the richest sources of groundwater to the farms and habitats developed on the surface.
Khader is crossed by several rivulets which drain into Ganga in this region, says Prof Singh. They act as a buffer during the floods when excess water escapes and takes the brunt of the floods.
Ganga is not merely a huge drain that flows through the plains of U.P. It is a mighty river system says Dr Vibhuti Rai a Professor of Geology in the Lucknow University and he too repeats that the difference in the levels of the two banks is because of the constant 'rumblings' in the sub-surface or neotectonism activated by the imperceptible movement of the Indian Plate towards the Tibetan Plate.
Rivers have a peculiar character of scouring the convex side in case the stream makes an arc and sediments brought by the river are deposited on the concave side. In the giant arc of the Ganga this is exactly what the river has been doing since thousands of years. The right bank or the convex side being higher is scoured as a result often cliffs are formed. The river deposits its load of sediments more on the left bank, making it more fertile.
A road that too on a bund all along the left bank of the Ganga would be a catastrophe, says Vibhuti. He says the Ganges is not just an artificially created stream, rather it is a river system joined by several streams. The bund therefore will have to have N number of bridges all along to let the tributaries debouch in to Ganga. In addition Ganga has a flood plain of five to seven kilometers on the left bank.
A river has a normal channel which it occupies during the lean period. Then there is a wider channel which it occupies during the monsoon. The spill over water or the floods spread beyond the wider channel. Usually the flooded part forms a sort of flood pathway of the river. Thumb rule says that the flood pathway should be left undisturbed. We know that we are mighty and we can tame any river. But what we are not trying to understand is the fact that taming a river along a length of few kilometers near a habitation is different than taming the entire 853 km length. The moment the bund comes up it will act as a barrier between the natural slope of the ground on the left bank and stop rain water from reaching the river. As it has happened in many towns, like Lucknow, the bunds of Gomati River cause water logging every year during rains, because they do not permit water to flow to the river. Likewise the Ganga Bund would act as a check dam.
Now imagine the scenario after a few years, the bund on the left bank and the raised right bank both would 'channelise' a river that had been swinging through the plains like braids of a maid. The river would naturally deposit its sediment load in its channel only, as it would not be able to splay out. The stream will gradually choke under the load of its own sediment. This would not only upset the hydrodynamics of the river but will also cause the river water to find escape routes via the tributary streams and many times the nearby habitations would be flooded.
Shashi of Uday Pratap College, Varanasi and A.K. Dwivedi of Gorakhpur University have carried out some studies about the aftermath of the Ganga Expressway Project and published their views in the Current Science. As per their projection 1,047,000 x 8 x 7 cubic meter fertile agriculture land of doab will be usurped in creating the bund along the left bank of the Ganga. They question, is it pertinent to sacrifice fertile land for the road when the food grain crisis is raging throughout the world? In order to make the bund of this magnitude lots of earthwork will be required. Naturally the contractor will excavate it from the nearest point. The excavated ground thus will have giant depressions which will be filled by rain water. Such ponds will be open invitation for mosquitoes and with eastern U.P. already reeling under vector borne diseases, these will add to the misery.
The industries they say can produce bread but can not grow grains. This region has been a granary of U.P. since times immemorial converting it in to an industrial belt may not be prudent!
Shashi and Dwivedi have also raised the problem of disposal of effluents generated by the new industries and townships along the bund. The waterlogged tracts along the river will lead to alkalization of soil thus the fertility of the remaining land will be deteriorated beyond redemption.
Well the problems are many, but the government has already taken a decision, therefore it is not likely to roll back. However, Shashi and Dwivedi have recommended a revival of river transport. This would be a cheap link at least between Bulandshahar and Ballia. It will not involve any earthwork. On the other hand it would help in keeping the Ganga clean. Dr Vibhuti Rai sites example of Yantze River of China. Instead of being a river of sorrow today it fetches millions of Yuan from the tourists as it offers one of the best river cruises.
Ganga has an active flood plain of 5-7 km. This flood pathway looks like an ocean of water during rains. In case construction of a bund with a road atop is the only recourse left to 'develop' the region, the flood pathway should be left untouched says Prof I.B. Singh, because the might of the river is beyond the power of engineering. It can be tamed for some time but not for all times to come.
No doubt industrialization and urbanization of Khader will usher an era of prosperity in the region, but a concretized Khader may stop rainwater to percolate down to subsurface depths. A situation in which Ganga may even dry up says Prof Singh.
Prof Singh suggests that if construction of a bund all along the Ganga with a road atop may be done on the Bangar region as it will have minimum impact on the environment.
The future appears to be too scary to imagine motor vehicles running on the dry bed of Ganga and nearby habitations getting buried under mounds of sand like Thalakkaddu in Karnataka!
by VK Joshi
June 13, 2008
Ganga Express Way – A path of wetland destruction
Note:Ganga Expressway Project envisages controlling the flow of the Ganga. The project claims that among other benefits it would save lakhs of hectares of cultivable land through flood control embankments on the Ganga.
UP's and Bihar's flood affected regions of Ganga basin is currently grappling with the unacknowledged environmental disaster due to a land of embankments. This region is home to South Asia's biggest ecological crisis that policy makers, NGOs and media have failed to comprehend and diagnose.
Both Mayawati and Nitish Kumar have revealed themselves as lovers of this very embankment.
It not clear whether clearance has been obtained from both the Water Resources Ministry and the Ministry of Environment. Also it is not clear whether UP government has not sought the permission from the Surface Transport Ministry, which is mandatory for building highways.
Before proceeding with projects both UP and Bihar should come out with a white paper on the contribution of embankments.
Ganga Express Way – A path of wetland destruction
Ganga Express Way is a project of the Uttar Pradesh Government. According to
this, an eight-lane road is to be constructed along the left side of the River Ganga, between Noida and Ballia. This correspondence deals with a critical analysis of the project in amalgamation with environmental concerns.
This project will consume 1,047,000 × 8 × 7 sq. m fertile agricultural land of
doaab. This Indo-Gangetic Plain is well known for its fertility and productivity.
In the light of this, in no way does it appear justifiable to sacrifice such a
huge area and that too at a time when the world is facing problems feeding the exploding population.
Each year the Ganga brings billions of tonnes of fertile soil, which is deposited along the river basin. It is this soil which is responsible for high fertility of the area. Now, if a road is constructed along one side of the river, it will act as a dam
or barrier for the free flow of water. As a result, huge amount of mud will be
deposited on the riverbed, decreasing the cross-section area of the river.
During rainy season, when excess amount of water flows through the Ganga, the
water will find its way into cities, resulting in floods. After a few years,
when the river bed would be almost filled, Ganga may be forced to change its
path and pass through cities, i.e. perennial floods would become common.
The Indo-Gangetic Plain is fertile because it receives fertile and fresh soil
each year and also the river regularly provides water for irrigation. After construction of the road, the high barrier will lead to two disadvantages. First, the off-side of the road will become waterless.
Since soil of the adjoining belt is sandy, in no way does it appear feasible to perform irrigation through other sources in such a soil.
In the years to come, this will lead to desertification. Secondly, construction
of the huge barrier would also require large amount of soil, as in normal
practice the soil would be dug from the nearby agricultural field1. This will
give rise to another problem. The low land generated in this way will collect
the rainwater on the off-side of the river, which will promote the development of sodic and saline soil.
Both the above processes will lead to progressive development of desert area. In
addition, the temporary lentic ecosystem would become a source of various
water-borne diseases, such as dengue, malaria, encephalitis, etc.
The planners have proposed to develop an ‘investment region’, along the way,
under which 500 large and 7000 medium or small industries would be commissioned
in 10,000 acres of land adjoining to the Ganga Express Way2. Not only will the agricultural land reduce, but also all the industrial effluents and garbage would be directly dumped into the Ganga.
Path of rivers are wavy. This will also increase the cost of construction,
maintenance and fuel consumption in addition to the time required for the
journey and cost of transportation.
Finally, our emphasis should focus on sustainable development, rather than on
just development. India is an agriculture based country, and we should aim to
feed the ever-increasing population.
Industries can produce bread but not grains. As an alternate suggestion, it
would be advantageous to develop the Ganga Waterways. This will not only prevent the economic loss, but the water resources available to us are properly utilized. It would require less than 20% of the budget of the proposed plan towards development of the Ganga Waterways.
The voyage would be economical, pollution-free as well as long- lasting.
Dwivedi, A. K., Shashi and Singh, J.,
Current Science
UP's and Bihar's flood affected regions of Ganga basin is currently grappling with the unacknowledged environmental disaster due to a land of embankments. This region is home to South Asia's biggest ecological crisis that policy makers, NGOs and media have failed to comprehend and diagnose.
Both Mayawati and Nitish Kumar have revealed themselves as lovers of this very embankment.
It not clear whether clearance has been obtained from both the Water Resources Ministry and the Ministry of Environment. Also it is not clear whether UP government has not sought the permission from the Surface Transport Ministry, which is mandatory for building highways.
Before proceeding with projects both UP and Bihar should come out with a white paper on the contribution of embankments.
Ganga Express Way – A path of wetland destruction
Ganga Express Way is a project of the Uttar Pradesh Government. According to
this, an eight-lane road is to be constructed along the left side of the River Ganga, between Noida and Ballia. This correspondence deals with a critical analysis of the project in amalgamation with environmental concerns.
This project will consume 1,047,000 × 8 × 7 sq. m fertile agricultural land of
doaab. This Indo-Gangetic Plain is well known for its fertility and productivity.
In the light of this, in no way does it appear justifiable to sacrifice such a
huge area and that too at a time when the world is facing problems feeding the exploding population.
Each year the Ganga brings billions of tonnes of fertile soil, which is deposited along the river basin. It is this soil which is responsible for high fertility of the area. Now, if a road is constructed along one side of the river, it will act as a dam
or barrier for the free flow of water. As a result, huge amount of mud will be
deposited on the riverbed, decreasing the cross-section area of the river.
During rainy season, when excess amount of water flows through the Ganga, the
water will find its way into cities, resulting in floods. After a few years,
when the river bed would be almost filled, Ganga may be forced to change its
path and pass through cities, i.e. perennial floods would become common.
The Indo-Gangetic Plain is fertile because it receives fertile and fresh soil
each year and also the river regularly provides water for irrigation. After construction of the road, the high barrier will lead to two disadvantages. First, the off-side of the road will become waterless.
Since soil of the adjoining belt is sandy, in no way does it appear feasible to perform irrigation through other sources in such a soil.
In the years to come, this will lead to desertification. Secondly, construction
of the huge barrier would also require large amount of soil, as in normal
practice the soil would be dug from the nearby agricultural field1. This will
give rise to another problem. The low land generated in this way will collect
the rainwater on the off-side of the river, which will promote the development of sodic and saline soil.
Both the above processes will lead to progressive development of desert area. In
addition, the temporary lentic ecosystem would become a source of various
water-borne diseases, such as dengue, malaria, encephalitis, etc.
The planners have proposed to develop an ‘investment region’, along the way,
under which 500 large and 7000 medium or small industries would be commissioned
in 10,000 acres of land adjoining to the Ganga Express Way2. Not only will the agricultural land reduce, but also all the industrial effluents and garbage would be directly dumped into the Ganga.
Path of rivers are wavy. This will also increase the cost of construction,
maintenance and fuel consumption in addition to the time required for the
journey and cost of transportation.
Finally, our emphasis should focus on sustainable development, rather than on
just development. India is an agriculture based country, and we should aim to
feed the ever-increasing population.
Industries can produce bread but not grains. As an alternate suggestion, it
would be advantageous to develop the Ganga Waterways. This will not only prevent the economic loss, but the water resources available to us are properly utilized. It would require less than 20% of the budget of the proposed plan towards development of the Ganga Waterways.
The voyage would be economical, pollution-free as well as long- lasting.
Dwivedi, A. K., Shashi and Singh, J.,
Current Science
Monday 14 April 2008
Rs 40, 000 crore to bring Ballia closer to Delhi
In a political resolution adopted in Kanpur on 30th March, 2008 at the two-day meet of the Uttar Pradesh state executive, Indian National Congress said, “The Ganga Expressway is another scam in the making for the way contracts were awarded to a few select.” The project has been awarded to Mayawati’s favourite Jaya Prakash Associates (JPAL), which had submitted the lowest bid at Rs 29,355 crore. The project will reduce the distance between Delhi and Ballia by 10 hours.
The Expressway Project envisages controlling the flow of the Ganga but the state was yet to obtain clearance from both the Water Resources Ministry and the Ministry of Environment. The UP government has not sought the permission from the Surface Transport Ministry, which is mandatory for building highways.
The project claims that among other benefits it would save lakhs of hectares of cultivable land through flood control embankments on the Ganga.
Jaiprakash Associates has been awarded a contract by the Uttar Pradesh Development Authority to build a 1,047-km long expressway connecting Greater Noida to Ballia in the state. The company has deposited Rs 1,491 crore as a bank guarantee for the project. Jaypee Associates will execute the 1,047-km long Ganga Expressway project through its unit Jaypee Ganga Infrastructure Corporation Ltd.
The Uttar Pradesh Expressways Industrial Development Authority has cleared the decks and put the project on the fast track. The group has opened offices in all the 16 districts, through which the expressway would pass and a nodal officer appointed in them all. It may be mentioned that the Jaypee Group, one of the 5 bidders who had come forward for developing the Ganga Expressway, had asked for minimum development rights.
They had also asked for minimum land for development: 30,000 acre, out of which 20,000 acre have been identified in Patiali tehsil in Etah itself, while the remaining 10,000 acre of land parcels have been identified in Allahabad, Mirzapur, Varanasi, Pratapgarh, Rae Bareli, Unnao, and Bulandshahr.
Opposition parties have threatened to launch a mass agitation if the interests of the farmers affected by the 1,000 kilometre Ballia to Noida Ganga Expressway Project were ignored by the State government in Uttar Pradesh. The rehabilitation package announced by the Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister, Mayawati, on 15th January, 2008 while laying the foundation stone for the Project on her 52nd birthday, she attacked the Samajwadi Party for opposing the mega scheme.
The Congress party has described the package as inadequate and unclear. Although the private players were short listed for developing the project but neither the alignment nor the survey of the villages were undertaken by the State. The Detailed Project Report had also not been finalized as yet.
Samajwadi Party (SP) leaders were put under virtual house arrest. SP and BJP along with V.P. Singh’s Jan Morcha had planned a statewide protest against the launch of this Rs 40,000-crore project claiming it would lead to forcible acquisition of agricultural land and ruin the farmers. SP had warned that the Nandigram agitation would be nothing in comparison once the farmers took to the stree. BJP had given it a religious twist by calling it ‘Ram and Ganga bachao andolan’.
UP government claims that large-scale industrialisation will ultimately lead to the setting up of various technical and vocational training institutes which will include 35 industrial training institutes, 20 polytechnics, 10 engineering colleges, five medical colleges and several paramedical schools. These investment regions would transform the area and spawn direct and indirect employment for three lakh people in about 500 large and 7,000 medium and small-scale units. Nearly 500 large and small agro-based industries would be part of the investment regions which would directly benefit the farmers. Traditional industries at Bhadohi, Kannauj and Khurja would get a new lease of life while the expressway project is also expected to be helpful to the economic uplift of weavers and artisans. Besides, it would ensure the revival of ancient cities like Mirzapur and Bithoor.
UP government says, it will also allot free residential plots—150 sq min urban areas and 250 sq m in rural areas—to those whose land would be acquired. Besides, they would be entitled to a 15 per cent quota in the allotment of flats or plots in the proposed industrial pockets.
The Opposition is raising issues like displacement of farmers, fertile land being grabbed by builders and a handful of officials around the chief minister plundering the state’s resources. Government owns only 5 per cent of the land required for the project, so the maximum percentage would have to be acquired from farmers. The chief minister has clarified that builders would require only 30,000 acre of “infertile and wasteland” to set up “investment regions” along the expressway in lieu of huge capital investment.
Ravindra Singh, principal secretary, PWD, who is also the CEO of Uttar Pradesh Expressway Authority, the rehabilitation policy would be implemented by the builders before the project starts. “If it’s not implemented, then the builders would not get land,” he adds. The unique part of the policy is that the land owners would have the liberty to convert up to 10 per cent of their compensation towards their acquired land into shares of the companies involved in the construction of the project.
Samir Gaur, director of the newly formed Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV), Jaypee Ganga Infrastructure Corporation, said work has already begun on the technical and engineering front. "Our technical team is already working on finalising the design and the alignment of the project and will submit its project report soon. On the other hand, work on the land acquisition will start as soon as the alignment of the expressway is finalised. Once we know which villages and tehsils the expressway would cut through, we will start identifying the owners of the land and acquire it."
"Almost 80% of the land along the expressway's path is arid and barren, which is literally, of no use to the farmers. We do not think any farmer would not want to sell of wasteland and get a good compensation in lieu of it, as well as have development and its resultant fringe benefits at his doorstep," added Gaur optimistically.
Regarding the business plan of the company and as to how it is planning the financial closure of the project, which is to be submitted within nine months, Gaur said that this is not going to be an issue. "The important thing that banks see is whether the company is stable. While we have almost 48% equity within the group, around 35% is owned by the banks and FIIs. The valuation of the Taj Expressway project, in which ICICI Ventures is our lead bank, is in itself 25,000 crore. We do not foresee any problem in presenting our financial closure at the right time. Once we start land acquisition, banks will gain confidence in the project and come forward. There is no dearth of lenders these days if any project is viable," he stated.
When asked from which end would work on the expressway commence first, Gaur said, "We will begin work simultaneously from all the 16 districts. The target of completing work in 4 years is very tough and we cannot afford to begin work in phases. For us, it is a 24x7 work schedule, which only can help us in finishing off at the expected time."
Mayawati says, no toll would be realised from the expressway service road.
With the Ganga Expressway project touted to be the biggest investment in the road sector in the state so far, the industry is keeping a keen watch over Jaypee Group's planning and strategy, while sealing and executing the project, which would link the most backward and poverty-ridden area of Uttar Pradesh with the national capital.
Tuesday 25 March 2008
Jaypee deposits Rs 1,491 crore as bank guarantee
Expressway is expected to be completed in five years
Land acquisition to be completed in the next two years
Jaiprakash Associates on 24 March signed the concession agreement with UP authorities for the Rs 40,000-crore Ganga Expressway project and deposited Rs 1,491 crore as bank guarantee for this. Jaypee Ganga Infrastructure Corporation will implement the 1,047 km-long six lane access controlled Ganga Expressway, which will link Greater Noida with Ballia in eastern UP.
Jaiprakash Associates won the contract to build the Ganga expressway on the basis of its bid, which was the lowest at 14,000 hectares. The project, which was floated by UP chief minister Mayawati soon after returning to power last year, attracted bids from 19 bidders, including Reliance Energy, Unitech and Gammon. The winner is supposed to manage the construction cost through toll collection and the land given to it at a concessional rate by the government for private development.
Land acquisition for the project is likely to be completed in the next two years, following which the construction will start.
The expressway is expected to be completed in five years from now. Jaiprakash Associates will acquire land for development at six locations across the expressway: Secunderabad, Etah, Rae Bareilly, Pratapgarh, Mirzapur and Varanasi.
Land acquisition to be completed in the next two years
Jaiprakash Associates on 24 March signed the concession agreement with UP authorities for the Rs 40,000-crore Ganga Expressway project and deposited Rs 1,491 crore as bank guarantee for this. Jaypee Ganga Infrastructure Corporation will implement the 1,047 km-long six lane access controlled Ganga Expressway, which will link Greater Noida with Ballia in eastern UP.
Jaiprakash Associates won the contract to build the Ganga expressway on the basis of its bid, which was the lowest at 14,000 hectares. The project, which was floated by UP chief minister Mayawati soon after returning to power last year, attracted bids from 19 bidders, including Reliance Energy, Unitech and Gammon. The winner is supposed to manage the construction cost through toll collection and the land given to it at a concessional rate by the government for private development.
Land acquisition for the project is likely to be completed in the next two years, following which the construction will start.
The expressway is expected to be completed in five years from now. Jaiprakash Associates will acquire land for development at six locations across the expressway: Secunderabad, Etah, Rae Bareilly, Pratapgarh, Mirzapur and Varanasi.
Monday 17 March 2008
Jaiprakash Associates steers Ganga Expressway
Cement, power, real estate and construction player Jaiprakash Associates is implementing the 1000 km-long Ganga expressway, connecting Greater Noida to Ballia in UP, on a BOT basis. The project will require an investment of over Rs 6,000 crore but is expected to give the company a land bank of over 6,000 acres along the expressway.
It is doing it through its subsidiary Jaypee Infratech.
Jaiprakash Gaur's flagship company, Jaiprakash Associates was allotted the Noida-Agra ‘Taj Expressway’ project by Mayawati in her last tenure. The Mulayam Singh government had stalled the project soon after it came to power. Gaur is known to enjoy a comfortable relationship with Mayawati.
Gaur ranks 664 on list of The World's Billionaires 2007. He was ranked 30 among India's 40 Richest in 2006. Gaur founded his company in 1972. He believes that water is liquid gold.
Jaiprakash Associates Ltd. was the lowest bidder for the Rs 40000 crore Ganga Expressway, the 8-lane road project on the banks of river Ganga to connect eastern and western Uttar Pradesh. Jaiprakash Associates was followed by Reliance Energy. The others like Gammon India , Unitech and Zoom Developers were far behind.
On her pet project-Ganga Expressway- Mayawati was asked if the project had already been awarded to Jaiprakash Associates. She said only barren and non farmland would be acquired for the project.
Jaiprakash Associates, Gammon India, Unitech, a consortium led by Zoom Developers, and a consortium led by Reliance Energy are in the race for the project.
In the meanwhile, the move to include Jaiprakash Associates (JPA) in the Sensex has baffled quite a few market watchers. The stock was in the midst of a controversy just a few weeks back.
Irate fund managers pummelled the stock on lack of clarity regarding the company’s stake holding in its unlisted subsidiary Jaypee Infratech (JIL). Somehow, these fund managers got an impression that JPA’s holding in the subsidiary had fallen to 55% from 100% earlier.
Subsequently JPA executive chairman, Manoj Gaur clarified that the company held 100% in JIL and that there was no dilution. But the sagging stock price of JPA seems to indicate that minority shareholders are not convinced, despite a couple of rosy reports from leading brokerage houses giving the management a clean chit.
The stock price is down 28% over the last one month, and has more than halved from its highs in January. Also, market watchers point that both cement and construction — the two major business segments of JPA — are more than adequately represented in the Sensex.
Uttar Pradesh govt plans five more expressways
Combined length of 1,400km proposed; roads will be in vicinity of highways being developed by NHAI
The Uttar Pradesh government is planning five more expressways in the state even before it signs the concession agreement for the Rs40,000 crore Ganga Expressway project awarded in January.
And yet again, just as in the case of the Ganga Expressway, the proposed highways are coming up in the vicinity of the highways being developed by the National Highways Authority of India, or NHAI, the roads regulator.
“We will not approach the Centre for any kind of assistance in funding. As in the case of the Ganga Expressway, we will raise resources for these projects by leveraging land,” said an official, who was involved in the planning of the Ganga Expressway project as well, but did not wish to be identified.
Country roads: The Greater Noida expressway. UP had awarded the tender for the Rs40,000 crore Ganga Expressway project, which will connect Greater Noida with Baflia, to Jaypee Infratech Ltd in January.
Country roads: The Greater Noida expressway. UP had awarded the tender for the Rs40,000 crore Ganga Expressway project, which will connect Greater Noida with Baflia, to
Jaypee Infratech Ltd in January.
The tender for the Ganga Expressway project, which will connect Greater Noida with Ballia, was awarded to Jaypee Infratech Ltd in January. The concessionaire is expected to be leased around 7,000ha of land for commercial development in order to construct the expressway.
Jaypee had sought land worth Rs293.55 crore for property development along the expressway in order to construct the expressway.
The five proposed expressways will have a combined length of around 1,400km.
“We do not have a clear idea as to how much land will be required to be set aside for these projects, but we will be able to work out those details only after a few months,” the same official said.
The proposed expressways include the Greater Noida-Saharanpur-Dehradun (in partnership with the Uttarakhand state government) stretch apart from Jhansi-Lucknow, Lucknow-Gorakhpur, Agra-Kanpur-Lucknow and Farrukhabad-Kotdwar expressways.
The proposal for these projects is being developed by the state public works department. “First we will seek environmental clearance for these projects and then the proposals will go to the state cabinet for approval,” the official said.
Planning Commission member Anwarul Hoda said that the apex planning organization in the country has not yet been informed about the state’s plans to go in for more expressways. “We have not been told about these projects,” he said.
Earlier, the Planning Commission had held discussions with the UP administration on the Ganga Expressway project in order to see whether the project linked up with existing highway networks in the state. It gave the go-ahead despite the overlap with the highways being developed by NHAI.
“Tolling on these roads will barely pay for operations and management expenses,” said a consultant with a project management company, who did not wish to be quoted.
“Remember, these roads are along the same alignment as existing NHAI national highways, which means traffic is going to be shared. So, the capital cost recovery will come from the land component only. If you are in the business of building highways, then why do you need all this land.”
March 6 2008
Mint
The Uttar Pradesh government is planning five more expressways in the state even before it signs the concession agreement for the Rs40,000 crore Ganga Expressway project awarded in January.
And yet again, just as in the case of the Ganga Expressway, the proposed highways are coming up in the vicinity of the highways being developed by the National Highways Authority of India, or NHAI, the roads regulator.
“We will not approach the Centre for any kind of assistance in funding. As in the case of the Ganga Expressway, we will raise resources for these projects by leveraging land,” said an official, who was involved in the planning of the Ganga Expressway project as well, but did not wish to be identified.
Country roads: The Greater Noida expressway. UP had awarded the tender for the Rs40,000 crore Ganga Expressway project, which will connect Greater Noida with Baflia, to Jaypee Infratech Ltd in January.
Country roads: The Greater Noida expressway. UP had awarded the tender for the Rs40,000 crore Ganga Expressway project, which will connect Greater Noida with Baflia, to
Jaypee Infratech Ltd in January.
The tender for the Ganga Expressway project, which will connect Greater Noida with Ballia, was awarded to Jaypee Infratech Ltd in January. The concessionaire is expected to be leased around 7,000ha of land for commercial development in order to construct the expressway.
Jaypee had sought land worth Rs293.55 crore for property development along the expressway in order to construct the expressway.
The five proposed expressways will have a combined length of around 1,400km.
“We do not have a clear idea as to how much land will be required to be set aside for these projects, but we will be able to work out those details only after a few months,” the same official said.
The proposed expressways include the Greater Noida-Saharanpur-Dehradun (in partnership with the Uttarakhand state government) stretch apart from Jhansi-Lucknow, Lucknow-Gorakhpur, Agra-Kanpur-Lucknow and Farrukhabad-Kotdwar expressways.
The proposal for these projects is being developed by the state public works department. “First we will seek environmental clearance for these projects and then the proposals will go to the state cabinet for approval,” the official said.
Planning Commission member Anwarul Hoda said that the apex planning organization in the country has not yet been informed about the state’s plans to go in for more expressways. “We have not been told about these projects,” he said.
Earlier, the Planning Commission had held discussions with the UP administration on the Ganga Expressway project in order to see whether the project linked up with existing highway networks in the state. It gave the go-ahead despite the overlap with the highways being developed by NHAI.
“Tolling on these roads will barely pay for operations and management expenses,” said a consultant with a project management company, who did not wish to be quoted.
“Remember, these roads are along the same alignment as existing NHAI national highways, which means traffic is going to be shared. So, the capital cost recovery will come from the land component only. If you are in the business of building highways, then why do you need all this land.”
March 6 2008
Mint
Ganga Expressway already accorded environmental clearance
Updates on Ganga highway project
State Environmental Impact Assessment Authority of Uttar Pradesh has accorded environmental clearance to Ganga Expressway Project in August 2007.
They received representations for the project in which issues such as intensification of sedimentation of Ganga River, impact on bio diversity, reduction in the flow have been raised.
The project proponents have been asked by the secretariat of State Environmental Impact Assessment Authority to carry out comprehensive environmental impact assessment and make necessary changes incorporating the environmental issues.
Source: SteelGuru, March 2008
UP govt determined to move ahead with Expressway project
Lucknow
Even as the Opposition parties in Uttar Pradesh, especially the BJP and the Samajwadi Party (SP) continue to rally against Uttar Pradesh chief minister Mayawati’s pet project, the Ganga Expressway, the state government remains unmoved in its bid to go ahead with the project.
The Opposition's scathing attack on the BSP government for allegedly giving undue benefits to the contractor of the project, JP Industries, at the cost of the farmers, as well as rendering thousands of hectares of fertile land into concrete waste are being seen by the government as a “:absolutely baseless and superfluous”:.
An official in the industries department said, according to the concept paper prepared by the irrigation department and an estimation of state public works department, embankments to be built along the proposed Ganga Expressway will save around 3.40-lakh hectare land from floods.
“:It is expected that this 3.40-lakh hectare of land, which is single crop yielding due to floods at present, will be converted to multi-crop fertile land after the completion of the expressway and embankments. Hence, thousands of farmers will be able to reap benefits of at least double crop,”: the official said.
The proposed 1,047-km, access-controlled, 8-lane expresway from Ballia to Greater Noida is to be 155 metre wide, including the width of the embankments and service roads.
According to the government records, the proposed land-parcels to be given to developer for development, which is around 12,281 hectare, largely includes infertile and barren land.
3 March 2008
Financial Express
State government refuses to reveal land rates for Ganga Expressway
The state government today refused to inform the assembly the rates of compensation for land acquisition in the Ganga Expressway project.
Parliamentary Affairs Minister Lalji Verma maintained that compensation will be according to the agreement between the farmers and developers.
But he refused to clarify if the price offered will be the circle rate, market rate or a mutually negotiated rate.
The government also refused to reply why the farmers in Agra — whose land is being acquired for the Taj Expressway Project — were being forced by the administration to accept a compensation of Rs 2-3 lakh per hectare, when the market rate was over Rs 40 lakh per hectare.
Raising the issue during the Zero Hour, RLD member Dharm Singh alleged that the farmers were brutally beaten up by the police PAC when they went to meet the divisional commissioner to lodge their protest on February 24. He also alleged that the farmers are being pressurised by the local administration and police to accept the cheques.
Denying any incident of lathicharge on farmers in Agra, Verma, however, did not comment on the compensation rate.
Earlier, the minister had assured the assembly that work on the ambitious Rs 40,000 crore Ballia-Greater Noida Ganga Expressway will start only after getting the No Objection Certificates from different departments — environment, pollution board, forest and Archaeological Survey of India (ASI).
He said the developer had been directed by the government to get the NOCs before commencing work. “The condition is there in the agreement made with the developer,” he added.
The minister also contradicted the Opposition claim that over 21 lakh trees will be felled for the project. “There is no question of cutting down a large number of trees. Besides, the mega project will free over 3.40 lakh hectares of land from the grip of floods,” he underlined.
Answering a question on industrial development in the state, the minister said between March 2004 and March 2007, investment amounting to Rs 5555.30 crore has been flowed in.
Without giving details, he said 347 big and medium industrial units had been set up in that period.
Asked how the government will meet the target of Rs 5 lakh crore investment in the next 5 yrs, he said bad law and order in the past was the chief reason behind the dismal progress of investment.
28 February, 2008
Indian Express
U.P. Govt. defends Ganga expressway project
LUCKNOW: The Mayawati government defended the Rs.40,000-crore Ballia to Noida Ganga expressway project despite doubts expressed by the Opposition members, who alleged that the scheme was a cover up for a land scam.
Dismissing the allegations made by the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Samajwadi Party as baseless, State Parliamentary Affairs Minister Lalji Verma said in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly that the 1,047-km-long Ganga expressway would provide fillip to the development of Uttar Pradesh.
Raising the issue during zero-hour, the leader of the BJP Legislature party, Om Prakash Singh, demanded that the documents related to the project should be placed before the House. Mr. Singh said the Rs.40,000-crore scheme had been awarded to a company ( J.P Associates ) whose net worth was over Rs.11,000 crore.
The BJP member said the same company had been awarded the Taj expressway project by the previous Mayawati regime but no work was done by it in the last five years and it was only recently that some levelling power had been initiated when the Bahujan Samaj Party government was formed in the State.
Mr. Singh alleged that acres of land in nine districts situated on the banks of the Ganga had been given to the company and said that land was bought by senior State government officials in Noida and Greater Noida even before the project was given the nod. The BJP member alleged that the alignment of land was being done keeping in mind the project. Radha Mohan Das Agarwal (BJP) expressed the apprehension that the project would only extend from Noida to Kanpur. He suggested that instead of beginning the construction of the expressway from Noida the government should announce that the building of eight-lane highway would start from Ballia. The BJP member said the Government should wait till the completion of the Golden Quadrilateral project before starting work on the Ganga expressway.
Ambika Chaudhary (Samajwadi Party) alleged that the government was not interested in the scheme and only wanted to extend benefits to JP Associates. Stating that the Ganga was the lifeline of UP, the SP member said several Most Backward Classes like Mallah, Nishad and Bind who sowed vegetables and fruits on the banks of the river would be robbed of their livelihood once the project was completed.
20 February, 2008
The Hindu
UP Assembly: Opposition rallies against Ganga Expressway project
Even as the Uttar Pradesh Government refused to table the documents on Ganga Expressway project in the state Assembly on Tuesday, the opposition parties — Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Samajwadi Party (SP) — launched scathing attacks on the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) government for allegedly giving undue benefits to the contractor of the project, Jai Prakash Industries, at the cost of the farmers.
The government, however, claimed that the project was awarded to the JP group in a transparent manner. Not satisfied with the Government’s reply, agitated BJP members staged a walkout.
Raising the issue through an adjournment motion during Zero Hour, BJP Legislature Party leader Om Prakash Singh demanded tabling of all documents related to the expressway project. He alleged that top government leaders received huge “kickbacks” by awarding the contract to the JP Group. He added that if the project is not implemented, then the land acquired for the purpose will remain with the private developer and not be returned to the farmers.
Singh further alleged the project has been awarded to the private company without seeking mandatory clearances from the environment, pollution and archaeology departments. “How can a company with net worth of Rs 11,1290 crore be awarded a project worth Rs 40,000 crore? Moreover, the JP Group was given the contract for Taj Expressway five years ago. So far, not even an inch of that highway — supposed to link Noida with Agra — has been constructed,” said Singh.
Parliamentary Affairs Minister Lalji Verma faced a difficult time while replying to the Opposition charges. He, however, said that to ensure the smooth execution of the project, a clause for “performance guarantee” has been provided in the agreement. “It was incorrect to suggest that land will not be returned to the farmers if the project is not executed. It will be decided by arbitration by a retired High Court judge,” he added.
Verma, while contradicting the allegations of the Opposition, said the concerned private company will seek all clearance before the start of the project. He added the Ganga Flood Control Commission in Patna and Environment Impact Assessment Authority have given the project No Objection Certificate (NOC). Moreover, the distance between the highway and the riverbed will be according to the guidelines of the Flood Control Commission.
The state parliamentary affairs minister further said that the UP State Pollution Control Board has suggested that NOC from the Union Ministry of Forest and Environment was not required for the construction of marginal embankment along the course of Ganga.
He further said that in June 2007, the pollution board had given NOC to the state irrigation department regarding the construction of marginal embankment along the course of Ganga from Narora to Varanasi.
The irrigation department has called for the need to construct a 13,862-km long flood control embankments, of which, a 1,200 km-long stretch will have to be constructed along the Ganga.
Verma said with the Ganga Expressway coming up, there will be no need for any 1,200-km long embankment, as this was not merely a road project but also a flood control project. The minister added that the expressway will protect over 3 lakh hectares of cultivable land from floods. “The project is a milestone for the state and it will certainly boost job opportunities. Traders and farmers will also benefit,” he added. Verma also said that only 28,000 hectares of land had been given to the promoter and all precautions are being taken to make the project transparent.
Indian Express
February 19, 2008
Panel studying financial bids for Ganga Expressway project
LUCKNOW: Financial bids from five companies for developing the 1,047-km Ganga Expressway project, linking Noida and Ballia, have been referred to an Empowered Committee headed by the Chief Secretary, amid reports that Manoj Gaur- run JP Associates has bagged the contract.
The proposals submitted by five companies - Gammon India, Unitech India, Zoom Developers Consortium, Reliance Energy Consortium and JP Associates - were found to be in order and thus were referred to the Committee, an official source said here today.
The committee would submit its recommendations to the State Cabinet, which would then zero in on the company to carry out the project that is estimated to cost Rs 40,000 crore, the source said.
The state government had invited Request For Qualification (RFQ), attracting proposals from 20 infrastructure majors, which were reduced to 18 after evaluation on December 13 last year, the source said.
The project would require over 64,000 hectares of land, of which 70 per cent is farm land, generating a ripple of protest from political parties.
The Expressway, which promises to reduce travel time from Ballia to Noida to about 10 hours, is seeking to develop regions in the state by opening 10 major economic and development zones of 4,000-5,000 acres each along the stretch.
The project is divided in four parts - Greater Noida to Fatehgarh, Fatehgarh to Dalmau, Dalmau to Aurai and from there to Ballia.
The 18 developers which were in contention to grab the project included Jaiprakash Associates, GMR, DLF, Leighton, Punj Lloyd, Reliance Energy, Unitech, Omaxe in consortium with GVK and NCC, Bajaj, SNC Lavalin, Galfar and Plus Expressway of Malaysia.
Meanwhile, Jaiprakash Associates has reportedly bagged the ambitious project to develop the Expressway.
Seeking to blunt the attacks by the opposition, the state government has announced a comprehensive relief and rehabilitation package for farmers and those displaced due to the project.
The package includes allotment of residential plots measuring 150 sqm in urban areas and 250 sqm in rural areas free of cost to those whose land is acquired, 15 per cent quota for affected people in the allotment of flats and plots in industrial pockets to be developed along the Expressway.
The relief also includes Monthly Displacement Allowance equivalent to minimum wage of agriculture labour for a period of one year, lump sum ex-gratia of Rs 25,000 for construction of an alternative work shed to the affected besides Rs 10,000 for shifting, a government source said.
BJP and Samajwadi Party have announced to hold sit-ins on January 15 in all the districts affected by the project, which according to them would not only affect farmers but also damage the environment.
PTI
14 January, 2008
Eighteen Developers short listed for Ganga Express-way Project
Lucknow : December 17, 2007 Eighteen developers have been short listed for the eastern
U.P. (Varanasi - Ballia) to western U.P. (Noida) Ganga Express-way Project. The outcome of the visionary approach of the Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Km. Mayawati, this ambitious project has the potential to remove regional imbalances. The 18 developers short listed for this project, include international as well as national level developers.
Five major foreign construction developers, which have been short-listed, are Plus Expressway - Malaysia, Galfar - Ashoka - Sadbhav, Leighton India - Oriental Structural Engg, Ssang Young & Yougraj and SNC Lavalin.
The 13 national level developers which have been short listed are MacQuare Securities - Gammon Infrastructure, GMR, Jaiprakash Associates, Galfar - Madhucon, Galfar - SPML, DLF, L&T - ECC, Punj Lloyd, Zoom Developers - CentrodorstroyIndia, Reliance Energy, Unitech, Omaxe - GVK - NCC and Bajaj - Appolo - DSC Construction.
For the Express-way Project, on the basis of public - private partnership an investment of Rs. 40 thousand crore and of Rs. 80 thousand crore in the development sector is expected. For the first time in the country any state is planning and executing a project of such large magnitude.
Since the investment for the project will be from the participation of the private sector therefore there will be no financial burden on the Government and its role will that be of a facilitator. 36 Tehsils of 19 districts will benefit from the Ganga Express-way. These include Sadar, Dalmau, Lalganj, Salon and Unchahar tehsils of RaiBareli district, Bighapur and Sadar tehsils of Unnao district, Jamania and Mohammadabad tehsils of Ghazipur district, Sadar tehsil of Varanasi district, Kunda tehsil of Pratapgarh district, Soraon, Phoolpur, Handia, Karchana, Meja and Sadar tehsils of Allahabad district, Sadar, Kayamganj and Amritpur tehsils of Farrukhabad district, Dataganj, Sahaswan, Gunnaur and Badaun tehsils of Badaun district, Sadar, Bansdeeh, Beria tehsils of Ballia district, Gyanpur and Aurai tehsils of Bhadoi district, Khurja, Dibai, Shikarpur tehsils of Bulandshahar district, Sandila, Bilgram, Savaijpur tehsils of Hardoi district and Jalalabad tehsil of Shahjahanpur district. Apart from these, Etah, Kannauj, Kanpur Dehat, Kanpur Nagar, Kaushambi and Mirzapur districts will also benefit from this.
This project will be constructed on the embankments on the left bank of the river Ganga. It may be noted that the left bank of Ganga River is more devastated by floods. Hence millions of flood affected will get relief through this project and the farmers of these areas will get the opportunity to procure two crops, which in turn will improve their financial status. 10 major development areas, each of approximately four to five thousand acres will be developed in the Express-way Project. These areas will be equipped with infrastructure facilities like electricity, water, roads, health services, educational institutions and housing.
In the development area, industries will be established in 10 thousand acres. Through five hundred large-scale industries six to seven thousand persons will gain employment while three lakh persons will be directly or indirectly employed in medium and small-scale industries.
The local population gets maximum opportunities of employment in these industries, for this technical/commercial educational and training institutes will be established in the development areas in fifteen hundred acres. 20 ITI level, 10 Polytechnic level and 5 Engineering level institutes along with Medical College and various Paramedical schools will also be established providing employment to 20 thousand persons as well as benefiting 20 thousand students. 5 hundred agro-based large and small-scale industries will also be established which in turn will directly benefit the farmers.
It is expected that seven to eight lakh persons will either reside or work in these areas in the next ten years. To serve them, commercial establishments, shops, hotels, bus stations, truck terminus, buses and taxies will also operate which in turn will provide employment to one to two lakh persons.
Source: CM office
Presentation on Ganga Expressway Project on December 10 at New Delhi to get no objection
Lucknow : November 30, 2007 On the directives of the U.P. Chief Minister Km. Mayawati, a high level meeting between the State Cabinet Secretary Mr. Shashank Shekhar Singh, Secretary M.O.R.T.H. Government of India (GOI) Mr. Brahma Dutt and Chairman National Highways Authority of India Mr. N. Gokul Ram was held here today.
The meeting was presided over by the Cabinet Secretary. During the meeting, it was decided that a presentation would be made at the M.O.R.T.H. Government of India, New Delhi on December 10, 2007 for obtaining no objection certificate for the project. The members of the Planning Commission would also be invited at the presentation. After the presentation the Ministry would initiate process for issuing N.O.C.
The Principal Secretary PWD Mr. Ravindra Singh, during the meeting, informed that the M.O.R.T.H. had not issued N.O.C. so far for the construction of Ganga Expressway Project. Mr. Brahma Dutt said that the U.P. Government had sent projects for approval under the special package to his Ministry. He assured that the Ministry would adopt a constructive approach and approve more and more projects.
He said that the construction of roads was a land based activity and it was a matter of joy that the State Government was undertaking this project on its own with the cooperation of private sector. He expressed the hope that it would set an example for other States to follow.
The Cabinet Secretary Mr. Singh assured the officers of the Government of India that the State Government would extend full cooperation in the projects of the Authority being undertaken in the State. He said that it was necessary to pay special focus to maintain the present surfaces of those roads which were being widened and strengthened by the Authority. He said that due to lack of maintenance the transportation had become disadvantageous. He said that the State Government would remove all the hurdles coming in way of the construction of the roads being undertaken by the Authority on war-footing.
The projects being run for the improvement of the national highways and by the N.H.A.I. were also discussed at the meeting. The issues of land acquisition, utility shifting, cutting of trees, cutting of Jajmau Tila from the Kanpur side of the Ganga Bridge, removal of encroachment were also discussed at the meeting by the Chairman of the Authority and other officers. The Chairman of the Authority was also informed that the Nodal officer of the projects and the Principal Secretary PWD Mr. Ravindra Singh had disposed of most of the problems during last few months through regular meetings. The Cabinet Secretary assured of the officers of the Authority that the problems coming in way of the projects being conducted by the Authority would be removed at the earliest, so that all the projects could be completed in a time bound manner. The concerning officers of the State Government had been directed to issue necessary G.O.s.
The Secretary Transport Ministry assured that more and more proposals sent by the State Government under the Central Road Fund Project and Inter-state Connectivity Project would be approved, so that the Union Government could provide more funds for the development of State Highways. He also assured that more works would be sanctioned for the maintenance and improvement of National Highways passing through the State.
The meeting was attend by Chief Secretary Mr. Prashant Kumar Mishra, Deputy G.M. N.H.A.I. Mr. J.S. Parmar, Principal Secretary Energy Mr. V.N. Garg, Principal Secretary Forest Mr. Srikrishna, Principal Secretary Culture Mr. Ashok Ghosh, Principal Secretary Revenue Mr. Pankaj Agarwal, Principal Secretary Planning Mr. V. Venkatachalam, Principal Secretary PWD and other senior officers of the State and GOI.
Source: CM office
Ganga Expressway to link Ballia with Noida
Work on 853-km-long eight-lane expressway likely to start in January 2008
LUCKNOW: Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati on Wednesday unveiled an ambitious road project that would link the backward Eastern UP with the more prosperous Western UP. The Ganga Expressway Project from Ballia to Noida was granted Cabinet approval on Wednesday and the work on building the 853- km-long access-controlled eight-lane expressway is likely to begin in January 2008.
Environmental clearance for the project costing around Rs. 40,000 crore was obtained from the Union Government on August 29. The project would be developed by private promoters with the State Government playing the role of a facilitator. The State Government is in the process of appointing consultants for the project and the open competitive bidding process would be launched once the techno-economic feasibility report is obtained from the consultants.
Land for developing the project would be given to private players at acquisition cost with the developers allowed to develop residential, industrial and institutional areas for making it economically viable for the promoters.
Inspiration for building the Ganga Expressway was sought from Sher Shah Suri, who built the Grand Trunk Road in the 16th Century after temporarily displacing Humayun from the Mughal throne. In fact, a visual presentation on the project at the Chief Minister’s official residence at 5 Kalidas Marg here drew a parallel with the legendary G T Road. But unlike Suri’s G T Road which ran alongside the right bank of the Ganga, Ms. Mayawati’s expressway would be built on the left bank of the river.
Unveiling the project, the Chief Minister said at a press conference here that the expressway would originate from Ballia and pass through Ghazipur, Ramnagar, Varanasi, Chunar, Bhadohi, Mirzapur, Allahabad, Unchahar, Unnao, Kanpur, Bithoor, Kannauj, Fatehgarh, Budaun, Narora and Bulandshahr before reaching Noida. A small part of the expressway between Noida and Narora would not run along the course of the river, she added.
Ms. Mayawati said the expressway would be constructed on the proposed marginal embankment to be built by the State Irrigation Department for controlling floods on the left bank of the Ganga. From Narora the expressway will be built on the embankment on the left bank of the river up to Narainpur in Ghazipur district. When completed, the travel time between Eastern and Western UP would be cut short by 16 hours and it would take around eight hours to zip across from Varanasi to Delhi.
Besides, linked expressways have also been proposed. These are Jhansi-Kanpur Link Expressway, Kanpur-Gorakhpur Link Expressway, Agra-Kanpur Link Expressway and Baghpat-Saharanpur- Hardwar-Dehradun Link Expressway.
The Chief Minister emphasised that the network of world class roads will speed up development of the State and also help in removing regional imbalances.
Explaining the nuances of the project, Cabinet Secretary Shashank Shekhar Singh said the river embankment would be widened to cover a width of 100 metres for the eight-lane expressway. He said it would open up employment opportunities and give a fillip to tourism, besides ensuring the revival of towns like Mirzapur, Bhadohi, Kannauj and Bithoor.
He said satellite mapping had been done and the expressway would be situated about 1.5 km away from the water flow. The river’s drainage system will not be disturbed and the displacement of population will be minimal. The proposed expressway will have four major bridges, three major bridges on canals, eight railway over bridges, 256 small bridges, 60 flyovers and 225 underpasses.
The Hindu
Sep 06, 2007
Travel time between Eastern U.P. and Western U.P. to be cut short by 16 hours
Lucknow : September05, 2007 The Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister, Km. Mayawati has said that a 1000 km.-long ultra modern expressway would be constructed on the banks of river Ganga. This would be first of its kind in the world. The 'Eastern U.P. (Varanasi-Ballia) to western U.P. (NOIDA) Ganga expressway would link Ballia with NOIDA. This 8-lane expressway costing about Rs. 40,000 crore would be constructed by using the latest technology and it would have all the modern facilities as well.
She said that to translate the project into reality, work would begin very soon. After the completion of this project the travel time would be cut short to eight hours only which is at present 20-24 hrs. This would save the time as well as the fuel of vehicles.
After a visually-aided presentation of the project at her 5-Kalidas Marg residence here today, the Chief Minister, addressing a press conference said that the decision to construct the project had been taken with a view to create a network of world-class roads in the State so that the people could be benefited by fast moving travel system. The State Government has included creation of development-oriented atmosphere in its top priorities.
Moreover, creation of employment opportunities is not possible without developing infrastructure. Therefore, while deciding the priorities of infrastructure to ensure all-round development, giving a boost to sectors like energy, employment infrastructure development centres, world-level infrastructure of roads, excellent transport system, agriculture and urban regeneration has also been emphasised.
Giving information to the media persons, Km. Mayawati, said on the occasion that the expressway would originate from Ballia and pass through Varanasi, Allahabad, Pratapgarh, Unnao, Shahjahanpur, Badaun, Bulandshahr and link NOIDA with Poorvanchal. It would have world class latest amenities like petrol pumps, telephones booths, cybercafés, food-courts and emergency medical facilities etc.
This expressway would be constructed by building flood control embankments on river Ganga. This multi-purpose and ambitious project would benefit entrepreneurs, traders, citizens and people of the rural areas among others. It would ensure rapid development of the backward areas situated on the left bank of river Ganga. She said that after the completion of the project the economic and social development would get a new dimension.
The C.M. said that keeping an eye on the uniform development of the backward areas situated on the left bank of river Ganga, the State Government intends to complete the multi-purpose project in quick time. The allround development of Poorvanchal was the first and foremost commitment of the Government, she pointed out.
This project would remove the regional imbalances and benefit farmers, labourers, unemployed youths and other sections of the society, she said. Expressway's connectivity with Delhi would open new vistas for the unemployed youths of the State, because a large number of Business Process Outsourcing (B.P.O.s) and IT industries would set up their units here she added.
Km. Mayawati said that the major benefit accruing from this project would be that it would drastically cut short the distance between the far-flung areas of eastern U.P. and Delhi. Smooth plying of vehicles had become very difficult because of uncontrolled entry of vehicles on the roads and a large variety of vehicles.
This had sent the State's transport system into disarray, adversely affecting the State's business activities, as constant impediments caused delay, increase fuel consumption and transport cost and the goods start decaying as well.
This project would benefit the entrepreneurs and traders by cutting down, both travel time and fuel expenses. The project would also help in re-energising the traditional industries based in areas like Bhadohi, Kannauj and Khurja etc. and also help the weavers and craftsmen to improve their economic condition effectively.
Besides, it would also ensure revival of ancient and historic cities like Mirzapur, Bithur etc. situated on the bank of river Ganga. The C.M. said that proposals for linking other prominent cities of the State like Agra, Jhansi, Lucknow, Gorakhpur, Saharanpur, Banvasa etc.with this expressway were also under consideration. Detailed proposals were being prepared, so that the pace of development could be accelerated and U.P. could become a frontline and prosperous State of the country.
Km. Mayawati said that the setting up of the industrial areas along with the 'Eastern U.P. (Varanasi-Balia) to Western U.P. (NOIDA) Ganga Expressway Project was also proposed. This would ensure rapid economic development of the area on one hand, while on the other it would provide employment opportunities to a large number of youths in the region.
This expressway would also provide opportunities to the farmers to transport their crops, especially those which decay quickly, to Delhi and other remote markets in a considerably short time. This would help them increase their income and their crops would also not decay.
The C.M. said that the project would ensure all-round development of Poorvanchal. The project would have dual benefits as it would ensure smooth transport facilities on one hand, while on the other it would stop erosion of land and save lakhs of hectares of cultivable land.
A large number of people residing in villages situated on the banks of river Ganga and facing the fury of floods year after year would be the biggest beneficiaries of this project. The present U.P. Government was making efforts for the progress of backward areas by removing regional imbalances.
In this regard, the Chief Minister had met the Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh on July 20 last and demanded a special package of Rs. 80,000 crore for the all-round development of the State including the backward areas of Bundelkhand and Poorvanchal. This included a demand of Rs. 9,400 crore for meeting the challenges of infrastructure facilities in Poorvanchal.
Besides, Rs. 2,200 crore have also been demanded by the Chief Minister to meet the challenge of floods in Eastern U.P. Terming investment of huge capital as imperative for quick economic progress, Km. Mayawati said that the project would be developed on the basis of private investment in which the Government's role would be that of a facilitator.
Besides, the Government aims to provide security to the weaker and poor sections of the society, which include labourers, small and marginal farmers and farm workers. To provide them large scale employment opportunities, the Government was making arrangement for capital investment, so that these sections could also improve their economic condition.
The present U.P. Government, led by the Chief Minister, Km. Mayawati had taken a resolve to establish a society based on equality by following the ideology of 'Sarvajan Hitay, Sarvajan Sukhay'. Under it, the State Government had included creation of development-oriented atmosphere in its top priorities. The greenery along with the expressway would effectively check pollution and fulfill the need of environment protection.
This project would open up a new chapter in the development of Uttar Pradesh, the largest State in the country, as India was fast emerging as the new economic engine of the world.
The project aims at prosperity and progress of all the people of the State, she added. ******* 'Eastern U.P. (Varanasi-Balia) to western U.P. (NOIDA) Ganga expressway project : Some important points
• Quick to and fro facilities and transportation of goods are the deciding factors for economic development of any State. Therefore, development of infrastructure was key to India's progress. There is a need for network of good roads for the proper transportation of goods and ever-increasing traffic. It has become imperative to develop a new network of roads.
• The U.P. Government has taken cognizance of increasing goods transportation traffic, which doubles in a span of 10-13 years. On the basis of these facts, inadequate road infrastructure was a serious problem for the State. The holy city of Varanasi is connected with New Delhi through National Highway No.-2 (N.H.2) and it passes through the State capital in the form of N.H.56 and N.H.24. This highway is the life line of the State and presently carries the burden of some important cities of the State.
• The State Government has decided to construct an eight-lane 'Eastern U.P. (Varanasi-Balia) to western U.P. (NOIDA) Ganga expressway between Ballia and Greater NOIDA, which will have controlled entry from important cities. This expressway will be constructed on the proposed marginal embankment of the State Irrigation Department to be built for controlling floods on the left bank of river Ganga. A small part of the expressway between Greater NOIDA and Narora, will be situated on the ground.
• The express highway will originate near Freight Container Depot in Sikandrabad. The part of the expressway from the starting point to Narora will not follow the banks of river Ganga. After Narora, the expressway will be constructed on the left marginal embankment of river Ganga till Narainpur in Gazipur district.
• The expressway will pass through Gautam Buddhanagar, Bulandshahr, Badaun, Shahjahanpur, Fatehgarh, Farrukhabad, Hardoi, Unnao, Raebareli, Pratapgarh, Allahabad, Sant Ravidasnagar, Mirzapur, Varanasi, Chandauli and Gazipur. It will be 100mts. wide.
• The proposed expressway will be of eight-lanes and every four-lanes will be divided by a median of 0.50 meter width. The width of the roads from all sides will be 14.5 meters. On every side of the road a 2.5 meter wide kacchi strip will be left. The median will be 0.50 meter wide. Since, the embankment will be 7-8 meter high, construction of a metal beam crash barrier on the sides of the expressway has been proposed for the safety of the users.
• The initial design of the project shows that on the subsidiary rivers of entire length of expressway will have four major bridges, three major bridges on canals, eight railway over bridges, 256 small bridges, eight flyovers on crossings of National Highways, 12 flyovers on crossings of State highways, 40 flyovers and 225 under pass on crossings on main district roads/other districts roads.
• Service roads will be constructed on some spots for local traffic facilities. Expressway has been designed for the speed of 120 kms. per hour. Drains will be constructed on the sides and on the breath, besides the energy disposers for the proper water drainage.
• This project will provide the most needed and direct access to eastern Uttar Pradesh especially the holy city of Varanasi. As a result, tourism and investment will come to the State, besides the savings in vehicle movements cost. The city traffic density will decrease due to the diversion of heavy traffic towards expressway. Air and noise pollution caused by vehicles will also be reduced in urban areas.
• The entire project will be in the State of U.P. and the kachhar areas of Ganga river. The length of the project will be situated 1.5 kms. away from the Ganga river water flow.
• All the districts from which the expressway passes have proper distribution of rains during summer and monsoon seasons. • Expressway crosses through the subsidiary rivers, nullahs, canals and the tributaries of Ganga river.
• The water drainage of the project's affected areas is being made through the medium of Ganga river. This river is the principal source of water in expressway length.
• Three sub-rivers, three canals and 236 small tributaries cross the proposed express highway. Ganga river flows beside the expressway and the expressway does not cross the Ganga river anywhere in its entire length.
Source: CM Office
Ganga expressway to connect NCR-Varanasi
Lucknow: The Uttar Pradesh government is contemplating an ambitious 747-kilometer Ganga express highway project connecting the NCR region with the eastern parts of the state.
Starting from freight container depot at Sikandarabad in Gautam Buddha Nagar, the 747-km-long express highway will touch Narora in Bulandshahr district and move along with the left bank of River Ganga up to Varanasi. The proposed eight-lane highway would pass through Bulandshahr, Badaun, Shahjhanpur, Fatehgarh, Hardoi, Unnao, Rae bareli, Pratapgarh, Allahabad, Sant Ravidas Nagar, Mirzapur and Varanasi districts.
State Government had hired Engineering and Technological Services, a New Delhi based company to prepare the feasibility report for the project which it had already submitted, sources said.
The Mayawati government plans to spend Rs 137080 million on the construction of the road.
PWD official said National Highway -2 connects Varanasi with the National Capital Region (NCR). Other highways including NH 56 and NH 24 passing through Lucknow were considered life lines of Uttar Pradesh.
The movement of freight transport as well as passenger transport would double after ten years and new road network was required for faster movement of the traffic. Irrigation Department had been directed to construct an eight- foot-high and 40-meter-wide bund along the left bank of river from Narora to Varanasi.
Irrigation Department officials said Rs 9160 crore would be spent on the construction of 627-km embankment along Ganga Express highway.
Along with assuring faster movement of traffic (120 km/per hour), the embankment would protect the nearby low-lying areas from recurrent flood.
Along with the road, PWD would construct three major river bridges, three major canal bridges, eight railway over bridges, 236 minor bridges, four flyovers on the national highway crossings, 10 flyovers on the state highway, 36 flyovers on the major district road and 210 underpasses.
A Service road would be constructed along the highway for the movement of local traffic. The new highway would attract investment and promote tourism in the region.
It would also help in the reclamation of the three lakh hectare land that would be used for agriculture, development of township, industrialization and afforestration, sources said.
UNI
August 06, 2007
Ganga Expressway - This project was announced in 2007 by Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati. At 1000 km, it will be India's longest expressway. It will link Noida, on Uttar Pradesh's western border with Delhi to Ballia, on Uttar Pradesh's eastern border with Bihar. The expressway wil run along the left bank of the Ganga river, in contrast to the Grand Trunk Road which is on the right bank. The expected cost is Rs 40,000 crore ($10 billion). This expressway should reduce the travel time between Delhi and Varanasi to 8 hours. The project is expected to be completed in 2011
The National Highways Bill, passed in 1995, provides for private investment in the building and maintenance of the highways.
Recently, a number of new roads have been classified as "NHs" in a move to provide national connectivity even to remote places. Bypasses have also recently been constructed around larger towns and cities to provide uninterrupted passage for highway traffic. The varied climactic, demographic, traffic, and sometimes political situation, prevents these highways from having a uniform character. They range from fully-paved, six-lane roads in some areas, to unpaved stretches in remote places.
Many NH's are still being upgraded or are under construction. There are long NH's to connect the metros together, as well as short spurs off the highway to provide connectivity to nearby ports or harbors. The longest National Highway is the NH7,which runs between Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh to Kanyakumari in Tamil Nadu, at the southernmost point of the Indian mainland, covering a distance of 2369 km, and passing through various metros like Jabalpur, Nagpur, Hyderabad and Bangalore. The shortest NH is the NH47A, which spans 6 km, to the Ernakulam - Kochi Port.
India has a vast network of National Highways. India's highways connect all the major cities and state capitals. Most are 2-lane highways. In some more developed areas they may broaden to 4 lanes, while close to big cities, highways can sometimes expand to 8 lanes. India has the distinction of having the world's highest-altitude motorable highway, Leh-Manali Highway, connecting Shimla to Leh in Ladakh, Kashmir.
It is claimed that Highways form the economic backbone of the country. Highways have often facilitated development along their routes, and many new towns have sprung up along major highways. Highways are dotted with local restaurants or inns popularly known as Dhabas. They serve popular local cuisine local cuisine and also serve as truck stops.
Under former Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, India launched a massive program of highway upgrades, called the National Highway Development Project (NHDP), in which the main north-south and east-west connecting corridors and highways connecting the four metropolitan cities have been fully paved and widened into 4-lane highways.
Some of the Busy National Highway sectors in India have been converted to 4 or 6 lane expressways – for example, Delhi-Agra, Delhi-Jaipur, Ahmedabad-Vadodara, Mumbai-Pune, Mumbai-Surat, Bangalore-Mysore, Bangalore-Chennai, Chennai-Tada, Hyderabad-Vijayawada and Guntur-Vijayawada. Phase V of the National Highway Development Project is to convert all 6000 km of the Golden Quadrilateral Highways to 6-lane highways/expressways by 2012.
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