16/12/2014
Posing a hurdle for the 302-km-long Lucknow-Agra Expressway project, nearly 250 families from five villages on Lucknow outskirts have refused to part with their land for the project. With Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav set to lay the foundation stone on November 23, the state government machinery has been put on task to resolve the issue.
Villagers in these five villages on Mohan road, which connects Lucknow with Unnao district, have threatened to stall the project amid demands for higher compensation in equivalence with other villages close to Lucknow city.
About 3100 hectares of land in 232 villages under 10 districts between Lucknow and Agra are to be acquired for the entire project which covers Lucknow, Agra, Firozabad, Etawah, Mainpuri, Unnao, Kanpur, Auraiya and Kannauj. Of this, 105 hectares of land in 13 villages of Lucknow district have been notified for acquisition.
However, farmers in Natkaura, Mehmoodpur, Katinghara, Rewari and Indwara villages have threatened to stall the project if they are not given compensation equivalent to the remaining seven villages. Around 24 hectares of land for the project fall in these villages.