Fatal accidents increasing on Agra-Lucknow Expressway
Agra, May 20: Speed craze without discipline is proving a major killer on Uttar Pradesh's two expressways. While the Yamuna Expressway has taken nearly a thousand lives since 2012, the Agra-Lucknow Expressway has recorded over 100 deaths.
With nearly seven lakh vehicles using the new Agra-Lucknow Expressway, reducing travel time to just five hours, the authorities have failed to come up with a fool-proof mechanism to check speeding.
According to an RTI filed by K.C. Jain, Secretary of the Agra Development Foundation, "in nine months, there were 853 accidents and 100 deaths".
It is estimated that within a year, one crore vehicles will start using the expressway, remitting Rs 200 crore as toll tax.
The 302-km Agra-Lucknow Expressway, a project of the Akhilesh Yadav government, was opened on December 23, 2016. Toll tax was imposed from January 19, 2018.
While the Expressway is becoming popular, the departments concerned have not yet provided policing or ambulance facilities.
"Petrol pump, car mechanics or puncture shops are non-existent. It is one long desolate grey strip through a never ending wasteland," said a frequent user of the expressway, Sudhier Gupta.
Originally the Agra-Lucknow Expressway was designed for a maximum speed of 120 km per hour with automatic traffic management systems aimed at reducing road accidents.
The six-lane expressway, expandable to eight lanes, includes four rail over bridges, 13 major bridges, 57 minor bridges, 74 vehicular underpasses, 148 pedestrian underpasses and nine flyovers.
The road was built in a record time of 23 months at a cost of Rs 15,000 crore. The expressway spans 10 districts, 236 villages and 3,500 hectares of land.
It connects Agra and Lucknow via Shikohabad, Firozabad, Mainpuri, Etawah, Auraiya, Kannauj, Kanpur Nagar, Unnao and Hardoi. It passes through four National and two state highways and over five rivers (Ganga, Yamuna, Isan, Sai and Kalyani).
The state government had promised that the expressway would have a series of development centres, agricultural mandis, schools, ITIs, rest houses, petrol pumps, service centres and public amenities. But till date there has been no progress in this direction.
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'Blood in river' rant: Owaisi reminds Bilawal of Benazir Bhutto's killing by homegrown terrorists
Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, Apr 28 (PTI): AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi on Monday criticised Pakistani politician Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari for his "blood would flow in rivers" remark, reminding him of the killing of his mother, Benazir Bhutto, by home-grown terrorists.
He also referred to former Pakistani cricketer Shahid Afridi as a "joker" for his statement on the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack, which claimed the lives of 26 tourists.
The Hyderabad MP said Pakistan should be placed on the 'grey list' of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) and advocated for cyber attacks against the neighbouring nation.
When asked about Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari's statement against India following its withdrawal from the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT), Owaisi remarked that Bhutto-Zardari should question who was responsible for his mother's death, emphasising that "she was killed by such homegrown terrorists."
Former Pakistan PM Benazir Bhutto was assassinated on December 27, 2007, in Rawalpindi, Pakistan.
After India suspended the IWT, Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari declared, "The Indus is ours and will remain ours—either our water will flow through it, or their blood."
Speaking to reporters, Owaisi said his party- the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen- supports the Centre's decision to suspend the IWT.
However, he raised concerns about where the water from the Indus River would be stored after the treaty's suspension, stating, "It has to be stored somewhere."
Under the World Bank-brokered treaty, India was granted exclusive rights to the water of the eastern rivers -- the Sutlej, Beas, and Ravi -- amounting to an average annual flow of about 33 million acre-feet (MAF). The water of the western rivers -- the Indus, Jhelum and Chenab -- with an average annual flow of around 135 MAF, was largely allocated to Pakistan.
With the treaty now put in abeyance, the government is looking at ways to utilise the water of the Indus, Jhelum and Chenab.
Owaisi asserted that Pakistan should be placed on the FATF grey list to highlight its financing of terrorism through illegal means.
He also urged the government to launch cyber attacks against Pakistan, citing Article 51 of the UN Charter, which provides the right to act in self-defence.
Additionally, he demanded that the Narendra Modi government rethink its deterrent policy since incidents like the Pahalgam attack were taking place even after airstrikes.
Reiterating his support for the Centre's decisions, Owaisi remarked, "Pakistan should understand that India's defence budget is bigger than their entire budget. They are 20 years behind India. The politicians there just keep blabbering. That country is facing internal issues. They can't manufacture medicines for malaria but keep talking about fighting India."
Speaking on the Waqf Amendment Act, Owaisi opposed its provisions, arguing that they violated the Constitution.
Regarding the inclusion of non-Muslims on Waqf boards, he questioned, "Wouldn't it be painful if we asked for non-Hindus to be included in the Pandharpur temple trust?"
#WATCH | Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, Maharashtra | On Bilawal Bhutto Zardari's "Blood will flow" remark after Pahalgam attack, AIMIM MP Asaduddin Owaisi says,"...Bachpane ki baatein nahi karna..His mother was killed by their homegrown terrorists...Does he even know what he is… pic.twitter.com/yVn7jegwKn
— ANI (@ANI) April 28, 2025
