Yogi govt speeds up Akhilesh's pet Lucknow-Ballia Purvanchal Expressway

Only 40% land acquired for project so far; state aims to complete acquisition in next two months

The Yogi Adityanath government in UP has fast-tracked the completion of the Lucknow-Ballia Purvanchal Expressway, even as it is probing alleged financial and land acquisition irregularities in the Agra-Lucknow Expressway project. Both the expressway projects were flagship programmes of former chief minister Akhilesh Yadav.

The state government is targetting to complete the land acquisition process for the mega infrastructure project within the next two months.

So far, of the 4,725 hectares of land required for the project, only 1,827 hectares — less than 40 per cent — has so far been acquired. Land acquisition alone is estimated to cost nearly