Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav launched the Coffee table Book entitled “Making of History - The Agra-lucknow Expressway” produced by The Pioneer Group of newspapers at the sidelines of a function where he inaugurated this Greenfield corridor.
Samajwadi Party national president Mulayam Singh Yadav, Urban Development Minister Md Azam Khan, other ministers in Akhilesh Yadav government and state president of Samajwadi Party Shivpal Singh Yadav were also present during the launch of this Book.
Editor-in Chief of The Pioneer Chandan Mitra presented the book to Akhilesh Yadav.
“This country’s longest greenfield corridor is becoming a swift road to development and prosperity. It will be a template of how roadways can transform India,” Mitra said.
This 120-page won accolades from ministers and officers. Flipping through the book Md Azam Khan told The Pioneer that this book reflects the true history of making this highway and how the project will touch the lives of people.
OSD to Chief Minister and former Chief Secretary Alok Ranjan said that this Coffee table Book is a must for collectors. After few years when people will look for the history of making this expressway this book will come handy for them, he told this reporter.
The book is divided into eight chapters focusing on different aspects in making of Expressway and and how it will affect the life. It spoke as how this 302 km expressway will reduce travel times and ease connectivity of people and movement of goods and commodities. “In fact, the expressway will help upgrade central UP as a prosperous economic zone by helping it connect with townships/commercial centres on the northern side of the Yamuna,” UPEIDA CEO Navneet Sehgal said in his Foreword.
In a chapter on “New agricultural and industrial hubs” the book said that expressway will help farmers sell their products at better prices. Their perishables will have a swifter run and they can sell directly to big retail chains. This will further trigger the growth of processing industries, it further said.
This chapter also threw light on wholesale and retail traders of Firozabad’s glass bangles. Be it Delhi’s Chandni Chowk and Karol Bagh, lucknow’s Hazrat Ganj and Meerut’s Begum Bagh, they will be able to integrate their supply chain better, sharpen trend forecasts, manage and move volumes according to a categorised market, it said and added: “Post the expressway, Firozabad will become a glass city, Auraiya a plastic city, Unnao a full-fledged leather cluster, Kannauj an advanced perfumery node. Besides this area could become north India’s dairy centre”.
The book also spoke about environment management as how the expressway will help reduce congestion and carbon footprint.
Besides this the book also speakes about technological challenges faced during implementation and how engineers overcome these problems. This also talks about seamless acquisition of land.
In its chapter new heritage arc Agra-lucknow Expressway connects three gharanas of the Indian performing arts, dance and music – lucknow, Agra and Banaras. The proximity to Delhi, the culture capital, provides the artistes from not only the state but those from across India and the globe easy travel to concerts and audience and a healthy cross-flow of thoughts and ideas.