Uttar Pradesh State PCS

• 11 Oct 2023

New Townships to be Established in Seven Cities including Ayodhya

Why In News?

On October 9, 2023, the state government gave permission to set up townships in the Housing Development Council cities along with Ayodhya, Meerut, Agra, Saharanpur, Varanasi, Moradabad and Kanpur.

Key points:

• For this, 'Chief Minister's Urban Expansion New City Promotion Scheme' has been started.
• All these development authorities and the Housing Development Council will be given Rs. 1680 crore under the Chief Minister Urban Expansion Scheme.
• The Development Authority and Housing Development Council will come up with a housing plan after acquiring the land.
• Under the scheme, the state government will bear 50 percent of the expenditure on land acquisition for the expansion of the developed township before the development of the new township for a maximum of 20 years. The remaining money will have to be raised by the development authority concerned itself.
• 400 crores to Housing Development Council, 400 crores to Varanasi Development Authority, 200 crores to Moradabad Development Authority, 200 crores to Kanpur Development Authority, 200 crores to Meerut Development Authority, 150 crores to Agra Development Authority, 100 crores to Saharanpur Development Authority and 30 crores to Ayodhya Development Authority will be allocated.

‘Vandan’ Scheme for Development of Historical-Religious Places

Why In News?

On October 10, 2023, the Cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath approved the 'Vandan' scheme for the development of Cultural, Mythological, Historical and Religious places located in urban bodies.

Key Points:

• Urban Development Minister A.K. Sharma said that under the scheme, other basic facilities including lighting, drinking water, toilets, cleanliness, link roads and benches will be developed at these sites.
• The committee formed under the chairmanship of the District Magistrate will select 2-2 such sites every year. Under this scheme, the work of connectivity, resting place, shed, drinking water arrangement, lighting, painting, interlocking, circumambulation path, construction of ghats etc. will be done in coordination with the Tourism Department.
• In this scheme, a provision of Rs 50 crore has been made in the financial year 2023-24. Apart from this, these places can also be developed with the budget of the tourism department, CSR item, MP-MLA fund and municipal department.

23 Bus Stands to be Built on the Lines of Airports

Why In News?

On October 10, 2023, the Cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath approved the proposal to develop 23 bus stands of Uttar Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation on the lines of airports under public private partnership.

Key Points:

• Minister of State for Transport (Independent Charge) Dayashankar Singh said that the proposal has been approved to develop buses on PPP mode at Sahibabad in Ghaziabad, Transport Nagar and Eidgah in Agra, Old Bus Stand in Mathura, Kanpur Central (Jhakarkati) in Kanpur, Cantt in Varanasi, Zero Road in Prayagraj and Amausi Bus Stand in Lucknow.
• A proposal has also been approved to make Bulandshahr in Bulandshahr and Garhmukteshwar in Meerut on the lines of airports.
• A proposal has also been prepared for bus support in Lucknow's Charbagh, Meerut's Sohrab Gate, Aligarh's Rasoolabad, Gorakhpur's Gorakhpur, Ayodhya's Ayodhya Dham, Bareilly's Satellite, Rae Bareli and Mirzapur.
• He said that the firm has been selected to prepare the old bus stands of Prayagraj, Kaushambi, Gomtinagar and Ghaziabad bus stands in Lucknow. Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath will lay the foundation stone in the coming days.