The Ganga Expressway is a proposed six lane greenfield expressway project in the state of Uttar Pradesh, India. The project was freshly launched on 29 January 2019 by the Chief minister of Uttar Pradesh, Yogi Adityanath. The Uttar Pradesh cabinet met at Prayagraj, the venue of the Kumbh Mela and cleared the decks to construct the Ganga Expressway between Meerut and Prayagraj. The 602-km Expressway will be built in two phases, Phase-1 which will pass through 13 districts namely, Meerut-Amroha-Bulandshahr-Budaun-Shahjahanpur-Kannauj-Unnao-Rae Bareli-Pratapgarh and end at Malawan Khurd village on Jhusi Sahson road in Prayagraj District. Phase-2 will consist of two spurs, one 110 km long section connecting Tigri to Uttar Pradesh Uttrakhand Border near Haridwar and second 314 km connecting Prayagraj to Ballia via Varanasi. The total length of both the phases will be 1022 km. As of June 2020, Phase-1 construction is set to commence by the end of 2020 and will be complete by 2025.
History
The Ganga Expressway project was firstly launched in 2007 by then Uttar Pradesh Chief MinisterMayawati. The project aims to construct a 1047 km access controlled eight-lane expressway running along the Ganga River. This expressway will connect Greater Noida to Ballia, ensuring high speed connectivity between the Eastern and Western boundaries of Uttar Pradesh. The proposed expressway from Ballia to Greater Noida is also planned to serve as a flood control embankment since floods are a major cause of agricultural and environmental damage in the area, and lead to many deaths as well as the spread of diseases during India's monsoon season. The expressway will connect major cities in the state of Uttar Pradesh, passing through Varanasi, Mirzapur, Allahabad, Pratapgarh, Rae Bareli, Unnao, Kanpur, Kannauj, Farrukhabad, Shahjahanpur, Badaun, Bulandshahr. Construction work on Ganga Expressway was not started then because of an order from the Allahabad High Court. The order instructed that the state and the concessionaire complete a full environmental study and obtain permission from the central government before embarking on the construction. The project was revived again with a different alignment and total length in January 2019 by Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath. The project comprises a 596 km Phase-1 from Meerut to Malawan Khurd village on Jhusi Sahson road in Prayagraj District, Phase-2 will consist of two sections, one 110 km long section connecting Tigri to Uttar Pradesh Uttrakhand Border near Haridwar and second 314 km connecting Prayagraj to Ballia. The total length of both phases stands at 1020 km.
Status
Jan 2019: Stalled planned project Ganga Expressway, revived again.
Feb 2019: Expressway to be built parallel to the Ganga river course, however, a distance of 10 km will be maintained so as to ensure easier compliance with environmental laws.
Sep 2019: Two alignment plans ready, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath to approve one of them and then a consultant will be appointed to prepare and submit the Detailed Project Report in a year. Expressway to be ready around the year 2024
Feb 2020: ₹2,000 crore allocated for the construction of Ganga Expressway in the Uttar Pradesh budget on 18 February 2020. The 600km long first phase connecting Meerut to Prayagraj is set to be completed by 2024. In the second phase two extensions will be built connecting Uttarakhand on the western end to Ballia on the eastern end.
