“If things go according to plan, the Transport Nagar will start functioning at Mohansarai on the Varanasi-Allahabad highway by 2008,” VDA Officer on Special Duty (OSD) Anand Swaroop told The Indian Express.

All transporters will shift their godowns and other business properties, including trucks to the Transport Nagar, which is coming up at the 112-hectare land, he added. “This will certainly relieve the city of traffic snarls caused by heavy vehicles in areas like Lehartara which house a large number of transport businesses,” said Swaroop. “A compensation of Rs 9.93 crore is being paid to owners of 86.219 hectares of land acquired by the VDA in the four villages of Karna Dandi, Milkichak, Sarai Mohan and Bairwan. The remaining 26 hectares is owned by the VDA,” he further said.

The Transport Nagar will also have necessary facilities like a police station and fire brigade team, Swaroop said.

After compensating those who have lost their land, work on developing plots for various transporters will begin. Development of Transport Nagar has been a long pending project of the VDA, which was originally initiated through a notification in 2000. But stating paucity of funds, the state government had put the project on hold in 2003.