Expressway to be built on GFCA recommendations, says UP govt

Following the directive of the Allahabad High Court, the Uttar Pradesh government today said the Ganga Expressway would be constructed according to the recommendations of the Ganga Flood Control Authority (GFCA).

“The government is yet to receive a copy of the order issued by the Allahabad High Court, but the expressway will be constructed according to the recommendation of the GFCA,” a government spokesperson said in a statement.

Emphasising that the environmental security is one of the top priorities of the state government, the spokesperson clarified that at the time when a no objection certificate was issued by the State Level Environment Impact Assessment Committee, Ganga River Basin Authority was not constituted.

“So, there was no question of obtaining an NoC from the GRBA,” the statement said.

However, provision of obtaining required no-objections and clearances before implementing the project had already been made in the agreement signed with the developer, the statement said quoting the spokesperson.

The construction of a world-class expressway was conceptualised keeping in mind increasing traffic on existing national and state highways and development of cities and towns.

The Allahabad High Court yesterday restrained the state government from proceeding on the Ganga Expressway project and directed it to obtain prior environmental clearance.