LUCKNOW, Sept. 25 -- Chief minister Yogi Adityanath on Thursday said development work in Uttar Pradesh suffered under previous regimes because the authorities allowed colonies to grow without adequate planning and infrastructure. The state's expanding cities now need planned development, he said. He was speaking at Dona village near the Agra-Lucknow Expressway during the bhoomi pujan for the Lucknow Development Authority's (LDA) Varun Vihar and Naimish Nagar residential schemes. The two schemes, spread over 10,680 acres, are being developed at an estimated cost of Rs 12,000 crore. The authorities launched registration for 4,520 plots during the event. The chief minister also laid the foundation stone for five proposed multi-storey housing projects worth Rs 2,166 crore - Lake View, Park View, Aishbagh Square, Aditi Apartment under Anant Nagar Yojana and Bageshwari Apartment in Sharda Nagar Extension. The chief minister said the state's approach to housing included plots, affordable housing, group housing and houses under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana for different income groups. He said planned housing and infrastructure were necessary to ensure that the state's urban expansion did not recreate the problems caused by unplanned colonies in the past. "Earlier, people used to purchase land at different places. There were no arrangements for roads, electricity, water and other facilities, and people had to live in miserable conditions due to waterlogging," Adityanath said. The chief minister said earlier landowners could face disputes and insecurity when land changed hands. "If the landowner sold land to some goon, problems were even more for other landowners. The outcome of unplanned development was adverse," he added. The chief minister also said Varun Vihar would provide connectivity towards the Purvanchal Expressway, while the Naimish Nagar scheme would help expand development towards the Lucknow-Sitapur side. A regional development plan was also being prepared for Lucknow and neighbouring districts, including Unnao, Hardoi, Barabanki, Sitapur and Raebareli under the State Capital Region (SCR), he added. "The regional development plan will systematically improve public mobility, world-class infrastructure, education, tourism and connectivity," he said. The chief minister said compensation had been transferred directly into the accounts of farmers whose land was acquired. He cited Munishwar Singh, who received Rs 3.13 crore; Ramdei, Rs 2.05 crore; Kamlesh Kumar, Rs 2.80 crore; Sushma Singh, Rs 2.90 crore; and Om Prakash Awasthi, Rs 1.96 crore. The chief minister advised farmers to use compensation for productive investments. The event was attended by mayor Sushma Kharkwal, Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Seth, MLAs Rajeshwar Singh, Yogesh Shukla, Neeraj Bora, Jai Devi, OP Srivastava and Amaresh Kumar, among others. See also page 2...