After facing some initial hiccups, chiefly by way of land acquisition, work on the 165-km, six-lane access controlled Yamuna expressway is back on track.

Speaking to FE, an official of JP Associates, the concessionaire of the project, confided that almost 65% of the earthwork at various sites along the expressway is complete and construction is on in full swing so as to throw open at least one stretch to the public by the Commonwealth Games next year.

?Our intention was to get the entire project operational by the start of the Games, but due to the widespread protests by farmers of all the five districts that come within the ambit of the expressway? Gautam Buddha Nagar, Mahamaya Nagar, Aligarh, Mathura and Agra ?the project has to face unexpected delays and rescheduling,? said the official.

The expressway is being implemented on a build-operate-transfer basis by the concessionaire, which has sought an extension of three years from the state government for completion of the project.

While one stretch of the project will be ready by 2010, work on the remaining stretch, along with the toll plazas and the development parcels running along the stretch of the expressway, is expected to be completed by 2011.

?The delay in reaching a consensus on the price of the land with the farmers was due to sudden spiraling of property prices. In fact, the cost of the project has overrun many times due to the tremendous escalation of both the land as well as the construction prices,? said the official. The cost of the project was initially pegged at Rs 2,250 crore.

While work on the expressway is on, acquisition of land for the development parcels along the expressway is happening simultaneously. A total of 2,500 hectare is to be acquired for the development parcels?500 hectares each in Noida, Aligarh and Agra and 1,000 hectare in Gautam Buddha Nagar.

Land has already been acquired in Gautam Buddha Nagar, while some minor hitches have cropped up in Aligarh and Agra, where the farmers are demanding compensation at the same rate as was given to farmers of Gautam Buddha Nagar.