Agra, April 29: A key project of former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav, the Rs 133 crore 207 km-long cycle track from Etawah to Agra, is in shambles for want of care and patronage. Many villagers use the track to dry cow dung cakes or wash clothes.
The concrete-layered cycle track along the wilderness and ravines of Yamuna did not find many users or cycle enthusiasts.
"In Bah area, the track was not even fully complete but the then government was in a hurry to inaugurate the project on November 26, 2016," said a local school teacher, Subodh Kumar.
Akhilesh Yadav wanted to promote cycling in a big way. "He was often seen cycling for rallies through villages," Kumar said. Cycle is his party's election symbol.
The cycle track, with colourful pillars meandering along shady trees, had to be bulldozed in Agra city to make way for six-lane Fatehabad road, connecting Kheria Airport with the Taj Mahal.
"Since this stretch of road is frequently used by VIPs and foreign dignitaries, a plan to widen it had been there in the pipeline for a long time," a contractor at the site said.
After a hue and cry was raised by some local groups, the State Public Works Department said it will build a new cycling track after the widening of the road is completed.
"But given the circumstances, it is not likely. The present political dispensation is not interested," a Samajwadi Party worker said.
"In any case, how many people used the cycle track? For security reasons, foreign tourists showed no interest while villagers prefer motor bikes these days," said Shravan Kumar Singh, an environmentalist.
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TN supplier of ghee to Tirupati temple says labs have certified product quality
Chennai (PTI): AR Dairy, a company that supplied ghee to Tirupati Lord Balaji temple, on Friday said their product samples have been duly cleared by authorities certifying its quality.
The Dindigul based firm's spokespersons told reporters that only during the months of June and July they had supplied ghee to the Tirumala Lord Venkateswaraswamy temple.
Even when ghee was supplied to Tirupati temple, it was sent along with duly accredited lab reports.
"There has been no deviations at all." Their firm was only one of the several vendors who had supplied ghee to the TTD and quality certifications had been shared with them.
"Our ghee is not being sent now to Tirupati temple. We don't send," a spokesperson said, adding, their products were available at all places and that these could be tested for quality.
A major row has erupted following Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu's claims of low quality ghee and alleged presence of animal fat in the laddus made and distributed at the shrine.
