The projects would be finalised and sent for central approval by month-end

The Uttar Pradesh government is preparing a blueprint for 'slum-free cities' in 21 urban centres under the centrally-sponsored Rajiv Awas Yojana (RAY). The projects estimated at Rs 1,000 crore would be finalised and sent for central approval by month-end.

The irony was not lost on anyone when Meerut, part of the ancient Harappan settlement renowned for its sophisticated drainage systems, was promised a decent sewerage system under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewable Mission (JNNURM) as late as 2005. The city seemed poised for a facelift after centuries of decrepit waste disposal infrastructure but, alas, that was not to be.

Seven years hence, even this modest project seems to have ground to a halt. With heaps of garbage lining its choked and dug-up roads, the project — expected to be commissioned by March 2012 —looks far from complete, adding to the city’s miseries.

LUCKNOW: Metered water supply is going to be introduced in seven cities of Uttar Pradesh with the user charges being determined by the quantum of water used by the consumers. The system aims at checking the wastage of water. The seven cities are Lucknow, Kanpur, Agra, Varanasi, Allahabad, Meerut and Mathura.

It's a battle of the bulge in major cities of Uttar Pradesh. Be it Agra, or the more sedate towns of Aligarh and Meerut, the Manchester of the East Kanpur or pilgrims' delight Varanasi and Allahabad or the industrialised hub of the state, Ghaziabad-it has spread everywhere. The mounting pressure of the population is pushing the edges to these towns to their margins. This, coupled with the crumbling edifice of the urban infrastructure, is adding to the worry lines of town planners when they sit down to plan and visualise these cities two decades from now.