State government in an important decision has decided to involve private companies to clean silt in the rivers of the State besides approving mega projects worth Rs 18939 crores which includes two Metro projects in Noida and Greater Noida and lucknow-Agra Expressway.
The state government in order to clean silts in the canals and rivers have decided to invite tenders through irrigation department and the company, who will get the tender will sell the silt to cover up their cost. However this could involve controversy as illegal mining in the state would get legalise by these private companies. The decisions were taken at the state cabinet meeting here on Tuesday which was chaired by chief minister Akhilesh Yadav.
Briefing media persons here on Tuesday afternoon, chief secretary Alok Ranjan said that due to lack of cleaning of silt, the rivers are being flooded. He said that government will now fund the cleaning as the companies would cover up their cost by selling off the silt. He further said that mining department too will coordinate with the irrigation department. Presently there are about 74, 000 kms of canal and river system in the state and only 5000 kms are cleaned every year leading to their flooding. The tenders will be invited after surveying the river bed by satellite mapping and getting the details of the silt.
In another major decision, State government approved 3 mega projects of Rs 18393 crores. The cabinet approved the lucknow-Agra expressway in five phases at a cost of Rs 11,526 crore with a separate fund of Rs 2000 crores for land acquisition. The work for the project will start within a month or two after acquisition of the land and the project will complete in 30 months time maximum.
The government has sanctioned Rs 5533 crores for Noida -Greater Noida metro rail for which a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) will be set up in which IIDC would be the chairperson and DMRC will be the consultant. Rs 1880 crores have also been sanctioned for extension of the Metro line from Sector 32 city centre to Sector 62.
State government has also approved the concept of ‘Fixed Price Control’ policy on the construct of buildings above the cost of Rs 10 crores to prevent escalating of the cost and timely completion of the projects. This policy will only enforce on the government agencies and only on building construction.
The government also approved the solar energy roof top policy for big and high rise buildings. In an important decision, government has agreed that all income tax payee families would be excluded from the Food Security Act along with the person who owns a 100 square feet land purchased by his self income in urban areas. But all the BPl and Antodaya card holders in the state would be automatically listed in the beneficiaries of the Act.
The government has also sanctioned Rs 1825 crores for strengthening the power transmission system in the state in next two years which includes 2 x900 kva, 8x 220 kva and 16x 132 kva sub-stations. The government has also given status of gazetted officers to the Samakshika Adhakaris and Additional Personnel Secretaries in the state secretariat. Their would be no monetary benefit for around 2600 employees. The government has also taken 146 madarsas for financial assistance who are already been recognised by the government.