Coming up: On Yamuna Expressway, a city bigger than Delhi
The Mayawati government issued a notification on Monday bringing 1,187 villages spanning six districts along the Yamuna Expressway under the Yamuna Expressway Industrial Development Authority, cutting short a process that would otherwise have taken years.
In terms of size, this will be bigger than Greater Noida or Delhi, its nearest competitors. The decision is expected to prevent the haphazard growth of urban sprawls on the flanks of new highways. The state government has decided to notify an area of 10-15 km on the left of the almost-finished Yamuna Expressway and up to the river Yamuna on the right side, for "organised and well planned development".
Uttar Pradesh principal secretary (industrial development) VN Garg told FE that this is one of the most ambitious efforts of the state government in transforming a rural area into an urban one, which will also serve as a corridor for industrial and infrastructural development.
"At present, it is a transitional phase and the evolution from rural to urban will take time, but we see immense scope of growth in this area. In fact, some of the work has already started. The construction of Agra Ring Road is in progress, the Formula One racing track is getting ready for 2011 championship, plans for developing five townships along the Expressway are in progress and a lot of urban development work is being carried out by the Yamuna Expressway Industrial Development Authority, including the setting up of a gas-based power plant. Such large-scale activities take their time, but progress has been steady," he said.

Coming up: On Yamuna Expressway, a city bigger than Delhi
Mayawati's plan ensures a far higher rate of compensation to farmers for their land, as these will now be classified as urban areas. An integrated development plan will also offer industry the chance to make a long-term assessment of the potential of the entire stretch and the state government assured of rising revenues for a long time, as the area turns into either a complex of small bustling industrial cities or one large metropolis.
The plan will cover approximately 2,36,682 hectares in 1187 villages, (131 in Gautam Budh Nagar, 40 in Bulanshahr, 105 in Aligarh, 420 in Maha Maya Nagar, 431 in Mathura and 60 in Agra).
The infrastructure building along the expressway may also trigger further private development and buttress the state government's plans to set up an international airport at Jewar.
"This is perhaps one of the most imaginative projects to come up in the country. What's more important, at one go, the specifics of an area of 2,36,682 hectares with a population of about 20,96,860 will be changed. If everything goes according to plan, the future is mind-boggling and the result worth watching over a period of time," said another official associated with the project. He said this project is almost 10 times bigger than Noida.
Coming up: On Yamuna Expressway, a city bigger than Delhi
However, putting to rest fears that farmers will have to forgo their land for this ambitious project, Garg completely ruled out the acquisition of land in this notified area and said that the purpose is to have a "planned development for industrial and infrastructure purposes and farmers need not be apprehensive about their land. On the contrary, such development will add value to their land," he stated.
However, there are detractors who have already started voicing concerns over such a vast tract of rural, agrarian land turning urban as also of an urban, industrial area which is yet to have any of the urban facilities. There are also concerns of the rural economy being shattered and food security.
But for all this, the state government's only response is that urbanisation is the only way to the future. "With a growing population, transition from rural to urban is the only way forward and what we are aiming is to do so in an organised, planned manner, with phased activities," added Garg.
Source: The Indian Express