LUCKNOW: The Upper Ganga Canal Expressway, an ambitious projects of the Mayawati government, proposed during the fag end of the regime, has hit a roadblock. The Union ministry of environment and forest (MoEF) has sought a clarification from the state government on the project. And work on the project is yet to be started.

Union environment and forest ministry has objected to former Uttar Pradesh CM Mayawati’s ambitious 147.8 km-long Upper Ganga Canal Expressway project, saying it involves 760 hectare of forest area. The ministry has questioned the purpose of the Rs 8,000 crore project. The Upper Ganga Canal has NH 58 parallel to it more than a km away. Besides, a road also exists on its left parallel to the canal. But the Mayawati government emphasized the need for the expressway saying the “roads get crowded during the movement of kawariyas’’.

Bihar has set out to match Mumbai with its own version of the Marine Drive. The 21.5km Ganga Path, coming up in Patna by June 2015, will be one of the country’s biggest public-private-partnership projects at an estimated cost of Rs 2,234.46 crore. The Bihar State Road Development Corporation will in November finalise one of six leading construction companies that it has shortlisted. The government has signed a deal with Transparency International to ensure transparency in the bidding process.

The UPA II government on Tuesday showcased several initiatives that have helped in sustaining the environment during its three-year rule despite the fact that delay in environmental approvals have hurt project implementation and overall industrial growth. The report to the people outlined the major steps taken to preserve the environment. It talked about the National Action Plan on Climate Change, forest conservation, mission clean Ganga, the setting up of the National Green Tribunal and tiger conservation.

The seers congregated at the Ganga Mukti Mahasammelan at Beniabagh Park on Monday evening and displayed their determination to continue their struggle until the flow of water in river Ganga is maintained undisrupted and the holy river becomes free from pollution. Apart from seers, thousands of locals and heads of other religious groups also arrived to extend their support to the ongoing stir for protecting river Ganga.

National panel needed to save Ganga: Govt. The Government is working on a mechanism to monitor the discharge of domestic and industrial effluents into the Ganges and punish defaulters and will soon come to the Parliament to share the plan. This information was given to the Lok Sabha on Thursday when, while replying to an emotive debate on the fate of the sacred river, Environment Minister Jayanti Natarajan said India needed a "National Commission to Prevent Atrocities against the Ganges".

Amid growing clamour to protect the Ganga, Union Minister Jayanthi Natarajan on Sunday said the Centre was committed to saving the river and has sanctioned projects worth more than Rs. 2,500 crore for the purpose.

"The Centre is leaving no stone unturned to ensure a clean Ganga. Projects worth Rs. 2,677 crore have already been sanctioned for the purpose. Of these projects, Rs. 1,342 crore has been earmarked for setting up of sewage treatment plants and other related works in Uttar Pradesh," Natarajan said.

Despite efforts and “huge investments”, pollution level in Ganga and Yamuna continues to increase unabated, a Parliamentary panel on Friday said and slammed the environment ministry for only adopting an “engineering centric” approach to deal with the situation.

The standing committee on environment and forest in its latest report on demands for grants (2012-13) of the environment ministry said, “The quality of Ganga water is going down day by day.”

Environmental activists Monday threatened to take to the streets if the government did not come out with “concrete measures” to save the “dying” Ganga by May 20. “So many protests have taken place over the issue before but little has come of it... we have decided to launch a mass campaign from Varanasi from May 21 if the government does not come up with a concrete programme by May 20,” said Magsaysay winner “Waterman” Rajendra Singh.

Announcing the “Ganga Ganga Mukti Sangram”, Singh accused the Centre of ignoring the plight of the river.