The Yogi Adityanath government in Uttar Pradesh has issued a notification forming the State Capital Region in the line of Delhi-NCR. Undre this plan, a state capital region will be created around Lucknow. The notification has been issued to include six districts under this SCR after a cabinet meeting.
The Uttar Pradesh State Capital Region will be created by combining Lucknow, Unnao, Rae Bareli, Barabanki, Sitapur and Hardoi districts. A total area of 27,860 square kilometers will be included in the state capital region of Uttar Pradesh.
The notification also formed an authority named ‘Uttar Pradesh State Capital Region Development Authority’, which will act as the umbrella body to coordinate with other agencies and departments to push for rapid urbanisation within Lucknow and its neighbouring districts.
The Chief Minister will be the Chairman of the Authority. The Chief Secretary will serve as the vice-chairman, and the Principal Secretary of the Housing and Urban Planning Department will be the convening member. Divisional Secretaries, Additional Chief Secretaries and Secretaries of several important departments will be members. DMs of all the 6 districts and vice-chairmen of development authorities will also be members.
Officers nominated by the Government of India and the Ministry of Defence will also be its members. Major city and village planning officials will also be ex-officio members. Divisional Commissioner Lucknow will be the Secretary of the SCR Authority.
After the formation of SCR, connectivity infrastructure like expressways, metro, trains etc covering the entire area will be developed. These projects are expected to bring big real estate development in the region. It is expected the area will grow and transform like Noida-Ghaziabad in NCR.
While Lucknow would act as the key driving force, the authority would integrate Barabanki, Rae Bareli, Unnao, Hardoi and Sitapur as part of the SCR by planning new road corridors, mass rapid transport system and other interlinkages to integrate the six districts as a holistic urban area.
The initiative will create massive employment opportunities in infrastructure projects like building roads, bridges, railways and metro etc. This will lessen the increasing burden on capital Lucknow.
After the formation of the SCR, new bylaws will be implemented in the 6 districts. The practice of haphazardly building houses, societies and encroachments will be curbed. The districts surrounding Lucknow will have metro connectivity, enabling people to live there instead of settling in Lucknow. The state capital region will also have a fleet of electric buses for connectivity.
The entire traffic system in the SCR will be connected to an Integrated Traffic Management System, and CCTV surveillance will increase.
It is also proposed that Lucknow and Kanpur metro can be connected via Unnao in future. The infrastructure of Kanpur and Lucknow airports will also be developed.
