Taj Expressway gathers steam

Work on the 165-kilometre, six-lane access controlled Taj Expressway,connectingNoida to Agra, has suddenly gathered pace. The special committee constituted under the Taj Expressway authority, to sort out the land acquisition tussles in each of the five districts which fall within the ambit of the Expressway, has successfully managed to convince farmers in three districts to part with their land at a mutually-agreed price.The three districts are Agra, Aligarh and Hathras.Full possession of this land has now been handed over to the concessionaire, Jaiprakash Associates Ltd (JAL) and disbursement if compensation has also started.
Around 20% of the land has been acquired in Mathura and talks are on with farmers in Gautam Buddha Nagar. Marathon meetings and negotiations are being held with farmers almost everyday and the decisive meeting is expected to be held later this month, in which the government hopes to bring the farmers around at a mutually agreed price.Adding that while the administration is offering the farmers compensation at the rate of Rs 400/metre,the farmers are demanding astronomical sums likeRs1200/metre. Meanwhile, in Aligarh, Agra and Hathras, work on the project has started on a massive scale, with the concessionaire pumping in manpower to start preliminary work. Earthwork, building culverts and bridges along the 165 km stretch has already started. The administration wants to get the project operational by the 2010 Commonwealth Games.The seven-year-old project was moving at a snail's pace due to land acquisition tussles in each of the districts involved.
The authority was facing resentment by farmers as property prices in these areas have spiraled with the proposed Taj International Aviation Hub and airport in nearby Jewar all set to get a green signal soon.JAL was awarded the contract in February 2003 and was to complete the expressway within 7 years at an estimated cost of Rs 1,600 crores. Five years later,the cost has escalated to 2,250 crore, but the authority is maintaining that with the biggest roadblock now lifted, it will complete the project on time.