Lucknow:  Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mr. Akhilesh Yadav has called for extending the Noida-Agra access controlled expressway to Lucknow so as the farmers and people of the state are benefited. The Chief Minister said that for the prosperity of the state, his government was in favour of constructing high class, high quality roads with the modern facilities.

He directed that adequate cattle ways and under ways along with service lanes on both sides of the proposed Agra-Lucknow expressway be constructed. The Chief Minister made these observations after viewing a detailed presentation on the Agra-Lucknow Expressway Greenfield project at his Shastri Bhawan office.

Mr. Yadav said that in areas where the Agra-Lucknow expressway would pass, not only Mandi's will be developed but the farmers of those regions would be able to send their products to bigger markets. Other than this, perishable commodities like seasonal vegetables and fruits like watermelon and musk melons would reach the urban markets quickly. He also said that after this expressway was built, a Glass city could also be
established at Firozabad and added that the travelling time to Lucknow from Agra would also be cut down considerably.

It is pertinent to point out here that in the presentation made before the Chief Minister it was mentioned that the road distance between Agra and Lucknow was around 350 km. and after the construction of the expressway this would be reduced to 274 km. and the travel time between Lucknow to Agra would be around 3 hours. This 6 lane expressway can be expanded to eight lanes as well. Fertile land would be frugally acquired for the expressway because most of the land is falling on the canal sides and  land of irrigation
department and government land.

To prevent flooding, the expressway would be constructed at a considerable height from the ground and on both sides a 10 metre green field strip would be readied. The estimated cost of this project is around Rs. 9500 crore. Water bodies and eco friendly parks would also be developed alongside the expressway.

The expressway would pass closely to Firozabad, Shikohabad, Etawah, Mainpuri, Kannauj and Mallihabad and these  towns would be developed as growth centres. Also present at the meeting were MoS Protocol Mr. Abhishek Mishra, IIDC Dr. Anil Kumar Gupta, Principal Secretary (Irrigation) Mr. Deepak Singhal, Principal Secretary (Finance)
Mr. Anand Mishra, Principal Secretary (Housing) Mr. SN Shukla, Principal Secretary (Revenue) Mr. Kishan Singh Atoria, Secretary to CM Mr. Alok Kumar, Divisional Commissioners of Agra, Kanpur and Lucknow and other officials.