Ganga Expressway Project: Ganga Expressway has been making headlines ever since it received environmental clearance from the state-level environment assessment authority, U.P. Expressways Industrial Development Authority (UPEIDA). The expressway is among the longest expressways of India and will improve the connectivity across the state of Uttar Pradesh.
The work on the project was not halted even during the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the expressway which is slated to be completed by 2025 will be constructed in two phases-- Phase I and Phase II. However, a DPR has not been prepared yet.
Through this article, let us take a look at the Ganga Expressway project, route map, length and more.
10 key facts about Ganga Expressway:
1- The 594-km long expressway will start from NH-334 (Meerut-Bulandshahr Road), Meerut’s Bijauli village and will end at Prayagraj Bypass (NH-19) in Prayagraj’s Judapur Dandu village.
2- Ganga Expressway will traverse through 12 districts of Uttar Pradesh-- Meerut, Hapur, Bulandshahar, Amroha, Sambhal, Badaun, Shahjahanpur, Hardoi, Unnao, Rae Bareilly, Pratapgarh and Prayagraj.
3- It will go through 140 rivers and water bodies and will have six lanes, expandable up to eight lanes. It will also act as an emergency airstrip.
4- A total of 12,000 people will be employed on a temporary basis for the construction of the Ganga Expressway. Once completed, it will provide employment to around 100 people at toll plazas.
5- The estimated cost of the project which is being undertaken under the PPP model is Rs. 36,230 crores.
6- The environmental clearance for the project comes nearly after 12 years after the permission obtained for the expressway by the Mayawati-led government in 2007 was called off by the Allahabad High Court in 2009.
7- Around 94% of the land needed for the project has been acquired by the state government.
8- Tenders have been invited on Design, Build, Finance, Operate and Transfer (DBFOT) mode on (Toll) mode.
9- In December 2021, Prime Minister Modi may lay the foundation stone of the Ganga Expressway and the project is slated to be completed by 2025.
10- Seven Road Over Bridges (ROBs), 17 interchanges, 14 major bridges, 126 minor bridges, 28 flyovers, 50 VUPs, 171 LVUPs, 160 SVUPs, and 946 culverts are proposed to be constructed.
Ganga Expressway: Background
The project announced by Mayawati received clearance in 2007 from the Environmental Impact Assessment Authority. Post this, two separate petitions against the environmental clearance were filed in the Allahabad High Court by Ganga Mahasabha and the Vindhya Environmental Society.
The petitioners argued that the construction work will increase the pollution level of the river to such an extent that river Ganga shall turn into a big Nala.
The expressway being constructed at the height of more than 7-8 metres, during rains there shall be backflow in the sewer as well as in the Nalas and tributaries that will result in flood engulfing most of the areas of the cities and chocking the sewer lines.
The petitioners further argued that the state government and the environmental clearance authority had not followed the due process while granting a go-ahead to the project. The project was granted in breach of the statutory regulations dated 14 September 2006.
The state government argued that the marginal embankment of the project will help protect a large area of fertile land from the flood. It further stated that a letter was written to the Ganga Flood Control Commission, Patna, on 19 August 2007 for obtaining clearance for marginal embankment which was approved by the Commission and was directed for obtaining clearance from the Ministry of Surface and Transport of the expressway.
However, the Allahabad High Court in its order dated 29 May 2009 quashed the approval granted by the state-level Environmental Impact Assessment Authority. The court said that the entire process was a flagrant violation of statutory provisions of Environment Clearance Regulation 2006.
UP Government led by Akhilesh Yadav in 2012 mooted the idea of reviving the project with the required revisions, but the focus was shifted to the Agra-Lucknow expressway.
In 2019, Yogi Adityanath led UP Government to revive the project wherein the alignment of the project was shifted away from the bank of the Ganga river. The project received environmental clearance in November 2021.
Also Read: List of upcoming expressways in India
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