Agra, Nov 1 (IANS): District authorities in Agra have begun looking for 1,000 acres of land for actor-film producer-realtor Sanjay Khan's dream project Seven City, a theme park that will cost more than Rs.200 crore.
District Magistrate Ajay Chauhan, along with senior officials, visited some areas across the Yamuna river, close to the newly opened Yamuna Expressway, Wednesday.
On Thursday, a senior official said, "A report is being prepared to be sent to the state government."
Aimed at promoting tourism, the Seven City theme park was discussed at the special meeting called by state Chief Secretary Javed Usmani Oct 15, following which the district administration was asked to look for land.
The park will have seven luxury hotels, numerous smaller hotels and restaurants and a convention centre, plus gaming zones, a mono-rail, and a whole lot of attractions for the tourists. The project, sources said, would be completed before the Samajwadi Party's term ends.
Activists, however, said that the translation of this dream project into reality would not be that easy.
"Where's the land? And there are real fears that it would end up like Mayawati's controversial Taj Corridor project," said Surendra Sharma, president of the Braj Mandal Heritage Conservation Society.
Farmers whose lands could be acquired for the project are also likely to protest.
The new land acquisition bill is likely to come up in the winter session of parliament, activist Shravan Kumar Singh said. He added that the state government should give greater priority to meeting the basic needs of Agra's residents: the air connectivity project hangs fire; the water situation is grave; and the Yamuna is already dying, if not dead.