LUCKNOW: In a major setback to the Mayawati Government, a Division Bench of the Allahabad High Court on Friday restrained it from proceeding with the mammoth Ganga Expressway project in Uttar Pradesh. The Court directed the State Government to obtain prior environmental clearance before proceeding with the construction work on the ambitious road project. Ecology hazards The order was passed by a Division Bench of Justice Ashok Bhushan and Justice Arun Tandon on a petition filed by a Varanasi-based social organisation, Ganga Mahasabha. In its petition, the organisation said large parts of the State would be exposed to many environmental hazards by the expressway project. In its order, the Bench restrained the Government from proceeding with the highway project until it obtained due clearance from the State-level Environment Impact Assessment Authority