The Uttar Pradesh government unveiled the Budget for 2013-14 in the state assembly on Tuesday, estimating a total expenditure of Rs 2.21 lakh crore. Mayawati's BSP, the main opposition party, staged a walkout alleging that more than 75% of last year's Budget remained unspent.

“The state will move ahead with this budget and the target of making UP ‘Uttam Pradesh’ (excellent state) will be achieved,”Akhilesh told reporters here. "Through this budget, we have made effort to provide maximum benefit to all sections of the society, including farmers, youths, Muslims, women and poor," he said. The Budget, presented by the chief minister Akhilesh Yadav who also hold the finance portfolio,showed a 9.8% increase from last year's size of R2 lakh crore.

Lucknow: The Lucknow Municipal Corporation on Monday presented its 2013-14 budget to the 12-member executive committee.

90 Trees Cut Near Butler Palace

Lucknow: A Lucknow bench of Allahabad High Court on Thursday restrained the state authorities from felling trees in the city for widening of roads. The court also asked if the authorities have any plan to plant new trees at alternative places to compensate for the trees cut down. Justice Uma Nath Singh and Justice VK Dixit passed the order on a PIL against cutting of trees in the Butler Palace area and Tilak Marg on Dalibagh, but it is likely to come as a deterrent in other instances of tree felling as well. Wideninf of NH24, for instance, has already taken a toll on some 8,200 trees.

Entire City To Be Covered in Later Phases

Lucknow:UP Jal Nigam is planning to take steps to regularise water consumption and prevent its wastage by people. The corporation would soon be setting up water meters in all private houses across the city which get water supply from Jal Sansthan. In the first phase, the corporation plans to cover Indiranagar and Gomtinagar by September 2013.

Downstream Portion Of River Highly Polluted

Lucknow: Hinting at the dangerous level of pollutants dissolved in the Gomti riverbed, UP Jal Nigam on Tuesday informed the Parliamentary Committee that around 37 million litres per day of untreated sewage is flowing into the river. Even though the official figures don’t ring an alarming bell at the moment, few LMC officials said the extent of untreated sewage flowing into the river is much more than what is being quoted by the Jal Nigam.

LUCKNOW: The coveted Gomti riverfront project, which entails utilisation of the unused lands and beautification of the riverbank, finally got a consultant on Thursday. The German firm, Urban Aqua, which has formed a consortium with ANB Consultant of Lucknow, has won the bid for the riverfront project. There were 12 bidders in the fray including five from abroad.

ANB Consultant is headed by Ashish Srivastava who has done the makeover of the shopping hub of the city- Hazratganj. Lucknow Development Authority officials confirmed that out of 12 bidders, three did not qualify for the financial bidding. The financial bids were opened on Thursday.

Lucknow With the Uttar Pradesh cabinet giving its nod to the Agra-Lucknow greenfield eco-friendly expressway last week, work on the ambitious project has started picking pace.

A public-private partnership monitoring committee (PPPMC), headed by Infrastructure & Industrial Development Commissioner (IIDC) Anil K Gupta, on Wednesday accepted and approved the concept report submitted by Redicon India and decided that the process for the selection of the project development consultant will start soon and that a request for qualification (RFQ) and request for proposal (RFP) would be invited in a week.

Will cut travel time to three hours from the present seven

The Samajwadi Party government’s first major road project — the 270-kilometre Agra-Lucknow Greenfield Expressway — will be built through the PPP (public-private participation) mode. The green signal for the ambitious project was given at a Cabinet meeting chaired by Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav on Tuesday.

Vehicular density, construction activity, use of diesel generator sets and loudspeakers blamed

Bangalore, long considered the garden city, now has a dubious distinction. It has been ranked the country’s seventh noisiest city and the tag is bound to worry the citizens, long concerned about rising levels of air pollution and ever-increasing number of vehicles. At 65 decibels, the City’s noise level has exceeded permissible levels in residential and commercial zones.

The Union Urban Development Ministry wants cities to do more than just express intent to have a metro railway system. The Ministry is annoyed that cities have been limiting their role to submitting a detailed project report and attaching an application for the Centre to approve and fund their metro systems.

A senior official of the Ministry on Wednesday said cities should play a more proactive role and emulate Kochi’s determination to get the metro project sanctioned.