Lucknow/Agra: Chief minister Yogi Adityanath on Tuesday said the Greater Agra township project will help the area grow as a ‘second Noida’ and give the Taj city’s urban expansion a new direction.Yogi said this after performing the bhoomi pujan for the project that will be developed at an outlay of Rs 5,142 crore.The CM also inaugurated and laid the foundation stone for 325 development projects in the district, worth Rs 6,466 crore.“Govt wanted Agra not to be limited to just a tourist destination but as a modern, cultural and economic hub. This new city will not only be smart but also safe. It will be a unique confluence of faith and modern urbanisation. Big companies will come here, creating new employment opportunities,” he said.The project is being developed under UP govt’s New City Incentive Scheme. It will be constructed by the Agra Development Authority on 449.65 hectares of land in the Raipur and Rahan Kalan area. Its sectors will be named after 10 sacred rivers like Ganga, Yamuna, Saraswati and Godavari.A govt spokesperson said RERA approval has been obtained for this project, which will feature multi-storey flats, group housing, plots, modern roads, sewerage, green areas and other civic amenities for more than 10,000 families.Appreciating the audience for having waited for him despite a delay due to inclement weather, the CM said Agra had given BJP nine MLAs, one mayor, an MP, and a district panchayat president, and in return, govt has given the city a major facility like the Agra Metro.He said the projects which he had inaugurated or launched on Tuesday would strengthen the city’s infrastructure, tourism, housing and connectivity.He added that the development of Agra airport will be accelerated and that it would get a new civil terminal by the end of this year.Yogi promised special attention to the development of the Fatehpur Sikri area and said if the detailed project report was prepared on time, the construction of the rubber dam in the city would also start. Highlighting the various steps taken by BJP govts in the Centre and state, Yogi said by removing Article 370 from Kashmir, govt had ended terrorism, while Naxalism-Maoism was being eliminated from the country. Hitting out at the Opposition, he said the mafia was patronised under their govts but BJP’s double engine govt had “crushed them into the ground”.
