Yamuna Expressway under CAG scanner?

LUCKNOW: Yamuna Expressway, the longest 6-lane highway in Uttar Pradesh which connects Agra to Greater Noida, has now come under the scanner of Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG). The 165km highway was built by Jaypee Group (JP) with a total cost of Rs 13,000 crore. According to sources, CAG is preparing the report on the financial anomalies between the land acqusition and the rate at which it was sold off to private builders. This CAG report could be submitted in February's budget secession of Parliament.

Both Mulayam and Mayawati, had allotted the land to Jayppe Group at a cost which was grossly less than the officially determined amount. This gives a whiff of a scam. Farmer leaders said that the UP government should have treaded cautiously in giving land to the private builder at low cost.

Yamuna Expressway scam can also trouble for the ruling UPA government since both Samajwadi Party (SP) and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) are supporting Congress at the centre.

The Yamuna Expressway project was started in 2003 and ended in 2012. Mayawati government is accused to allot the valuable land in favor of JP Group in negligible amounts, where it has build township and high-tech colonies which was sold for crores of rupees.

At the time of allotment, land from the farmers was bought in hectares and after JP Group builds the colonies and apartments, it was sold in square-fit to the customers. The poor farmers in the state were cheated by both governments in order to fill their accounts.