Lights, Camera, Hammer !!

A statue of former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Mayawati was damaged at Ambedkar Park in Lucknow's Gomti Nagar area on Thursday by men who claimed to be members of an unknown group called Uttar Pradesh Naunirman Sena. Three persons have been detained, police said. The incident led to protests by BSP workers at a number of places in the state, including Jhansi, Ambedkar Nagar, Deoria, Muzaffarnagar and Kanpur.

The virtually unknown outfit is headed by Meerut based activist Amit Jani.

Four men came to the park on bikes around 1.30pm carrying hammers and other tools to attack the statute, a security guard present at the park said.

The attackers rushed to the statue, broke the hands and removed the head of the statue, despite of the presence of security personnel at the park.The action coincided with a press conference by Jani at UP Press Club in which he demanded the removal of the statues of Mayawati.

On a high: Lucknow to get ‘London Eye’

On a high: Lucknow to get ‘London Eye’

• 7 Jul 2012
• Hindustan Times (Lucknow)
• M Tariq Khan
• tariq.khan@hindustantimes.com

HT EXCLUSIVE
LUCKNOW:
How about having a panoramic view of city’s architectural landmarks, both new and old, without having to face heavy traffic, hot and humid weather? Incredible it may sound but ‘Lucknow Eye’ promises to provide just that: a spectacular sight of the city’s skyline from a spot near its lifeline, that is, river Gomti.
And no, we are not talking about a detective agency here, as the name seems to suggest. But about a giant Ferris wheel, a take off from the popular ‘London Eye’ on Thames that would take visitors to a high from where they can have a bird’s eye view of the city’s landscape.
Steering the project’s wheel is none other than chief minister Akhilesh Yadav, who is understood to have mooted the idea a couple of days ago in a meeting on Gomti River Front Development Plan with a hydrological expert from Roorkee.
“Lucknow is eyeing the concept that is already a big hit in almost all major cities built along the river. London Eye on Thames is a major attraction.

Similarly, Vienna, Melbourne, Shanghai or Singapore also boast of the Ferris wheel. Closer home, Delhi came up with the idea during the Commonwealth Games but the project has got stuck,” said a senior official requesting anonymity.
The CM has asked IIT Roorkee to submit its hydrological report on Gomti river by November 30. “Gomti flows in almost a straight channel between Daliganj Bridge and Gomti Barrage. This is an ideal situation for having a water sports and a cruise.
The only hitch is an old weir near the Daliganj Bridge that can be easily removed,” said the expert. The open stretch running from Dharna Sthal on the river’s bank opposite the Nadwa College has initially been discussed as a possible spot but a final decision on where to have Lucknow Eye would be taken after the hydrological study.
“The giant wheel can be as high as a 40-storey building and can accommodate at least eight people in a specially built airconditioned cabins with audiovisual facilities. It moves very slowly (around 3-4 metre per second) so that visitors can enjoy the scenery,” he said. A tall order indeed, but the official feels the proposed site would be an ideal location for this stateof-the-art moving observatory.
This huge open expanse, according to him, has already been developed and besides a newly constructed four-lane ‘bandha’ road, also has the requisite parking facility. “One can savor the grandeur of the old as well new Lucknow landmarks from this location such as Clock Tower, Chattar Manzil, the Rumi Darwaza, the Bara and Chota Imabaras on one hand and the BSP memorials, on the other,” he pointed out. He said that a consultant would be hired to implement the project, which can cost anywhere between Rs 10-20 crore depending upon the passenger capacity, height, other specifications and features.
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