Akhilesh hits Yamuna Expressway on way to Manth,ride ‘mostly smooth’

The Chief Minister was going from Agra to Banjana area of Manth assembly constituency in Mathura district,where polling in a by-election is scheduled for Tuesday. About eight kilometre from Agra,he decided to divert his cavalcade towards Chhalesar,which is the Agra end of the still unoperational Yamuna Expressway.

As the cavalcade got onto the expressway and the news spread,officials of the UP government and the Jaypee Group,which has developed the expressway,rushed to catch up with him.

The Chief Minister drove right up to Banjana,which is 65 km from Agra. There,he addressed a public meeting. He reportedly told the gathering that he had just travelled on the expressway where his bicycle rally was not allowed by the previous government about a year ago.

After the public meeting,the Chief Minister’s cavalcade again took the expressway and drove all the way back to Chhalesar.

Sources said the Chief Minister was generally satisfied,but felt the ride wasn’t very smooth at some places. Also,he remarked there should have been greater plantation along the expressway,sources said.

At a time when there is still no indication about the inauguration date of the project,the Chief Minister’s action is regarded as significant,both by people in the government and the Jaypee Group. For,now he has seen and tested a large stretch of the expressway himself.

The visit comes at a time when the state government has become proactive and has fixed a meeting on June 15 with all stakeholders to resolve the pending issues regarding the expressway.

Officials of the Jaypee Group,the Yamuna Expressway Industrial Development Authority and RITES,which is the advisory consultant for the project,will attend the meeting in Lucknow.

Sources said most of the pending issues,which are related to speed limit,toll rates and roadside amenities,may be settled in this meeting. The RITES report on safety arrangements on the expressway will also be available at the meeting.

After this,a board meeting of the Yamuna Expressway Industrial Development Authority has been called on June 22. Incidentally,NOIDA and GNOIDA boards are also meeting the same day.

The Yamuna Expressway is expected to reduce travel time between Greater NOIDA and Agra to about 100 minutes. The project,earlier called the Taj Expressway,was conceived by the Mayawati government but could not take off before the Assembly elections.