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’’.

LUCKNOW: A small fry from the coastal belt of India could prove a potent weapon in the battle against the menace of Japanese encephalitis in eastern Uttar Pradesh. This small killer fish, Gambusia, is known for devouring mosquito larvae - 100 to 300 per day. So, the UP government has added it to its armoury for controlling mosquitoes, which are primary responsible for the spread of the dreaded disease that has claimed more than 5,000 lives in the past seven years.

LUCKNOW: The growing number of farmer suicides and water scarcity in Bundelkhand region is set to figure prominently in the coming session of national executive meeting of the BJP scheduled to be held on May 24 and May 25. Speaking to TOI, former BJP president Rajnath Singh, said, "Things for the most neglected, but much politicised region continue to be as worrisome as they were during the BSP rule and despite all assurances of changing the fate of Bundelas, Samajwadi Party is proving to be equally indifferent to their plight."

LUCKNOW: Lucknow Municipal Corporation's decision to rope in experts from the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur to examine the works done under Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission, one of Centre's, is likely to put the centrally-appointed monitoring committee under a scanner. This is because all the works carried out in the state capital went through the monitoring of the committee appointed by the central government. And, it was on the basis of the monitoring committee's reports that funds were released by the Centre.

Kolkata The Prime Minister’s Office is asking state-run power utilities to follow the West Bengal model in terms of tariff. The said model keeps a margin after realising the real cost of production.

The move may have been prodded by the Planning Commission, which is pushing the Centre to raise the borrowing limits of Tamil Nadu, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh, so these states can take further loans to clear the power sector of debt.

LUCKNOW: Faced with a host of complaints pertaining to drainage and sewerage works executed under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM), the Lucknow Municipal Corporation on Monday decided to get the works examined by a technical agency. Municipal commissioner NP Singh said that if possible the works will be examined under the technical guidance of experts from Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur (IIT-K).