Beginning today, FE carries a three-part series on the proposed Ganga Expressway. The first part is from Ballia.
As UP chief minister Mayawati laid the foundation stone of the 1,047-km expressway at Lucknow on Tuesday, the administration in the easternmost district of the state has been gripped by a ?left? or ?right? debate. No, that does not refer to the political posturing of the government, but the positioning of the road.
Beginning from the left bank of the Ganga at Ballia, the question reverberating in the corridors of power is, should the expressway continue along the left bank or cross over to the right bank? Details on the impact of the project if it runs along the left bank, which is both densely populated and highly fertile, are being frantically worked out.
The deliberations have extended to the galli kunchas of villages and settlements through which the proposed expressway will pass, generating keen debate. After all, families likely to be displaced by the expressway are hopeful of generous compensation, while others question the entire project.
Gathered around a tea stall on the highway on a languid Sunday forenoon in Kundeshar tehsil of Ghazipur district, Pradeep Kumar Singh, whose wife is pradhan, says cynically: ?We have heard about it, but what is the need for another expressway??
Shiv Prasad Rai, a farmer, stoutly disagrees. ?I would welcome it if my land is taken up for the project. At the moment, the price of many tracts of land is not more than Rs 20,000 a bigha. If I am given Rs 2 lakh for it, I would be delighted. Furthermore, the project would bring unparalleled change in the entire region,? he says.
Clearly, many see the expressway as the road to prosperity.