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Post Purvanchal Expressway inauguration, work on three other expressways expedited
The Uttar Pradesh government has expedited the construction work on three expressways-- the Bundelkhand expressway and Gorakhpur Link expressway, as well as acquisition of land for the Ganga expressway
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After the inauguration of Purvanchal Expressway by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday, the state government has expedited the construction work on the Bundelkhand expressway and Gorakhpur Link expressway, as well as acquisition of land for the Ganga expressway.
In view of the crucial assembly election likely to be held early next year, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) hopes that rings of expressways across Uttar Pradesh will assist it playing the development card and neutralizing the non-performance tirade of the opposition parties.
That the expressways are likely to emerge as a major poll plank can be gauged from the fact that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and chief minister Yogi Adityanath chose the inauguration programme of the Purvanchal expressway to launch an attack on the opposition. “Instead of developing infrastructure facilities, the opposition parties; governments reduced UP to poverty and mafia rule”, the Prime Minister said. To counter the BJP attack, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav organized the fourth leg of Samajwadi Vijay Yatra from Ghazipur to Lucknow via Purvanchal expressway on Wednesday.
Lauding his government’s achievement in the infrastructure sector, chief minister Yogi Adityanath said the double engine BJP government planned to make UP an expressway state with maximum network of expressways. The state government would give momentum to the construction of the Bundelkhand expressway, Gorakhpur Link expressway and Ganga expressway, he said.
A meeting of the officers was held under the chairmanship of chief executive officer (CEO) Uttar Pradesh Expressway Industrial Development Authority (UPEIDA) Awanish Awasthi on Wednesday to review the construction of the Bundelkhand expressway through video conferencing.
Awasthi said the construction of the 296.07 km Bundelkhand expressway that will pass through seven districts- Chitrakoot, Banda, Mahoba, Hamirpur, Jalaun, Auraiya and Etawah ---was going on at a fast pace. More than 76% physical work of the project had been completed. The construction of bridges on rivers Yamuna and Betwa had been expedited and work on the remaining structures- Railway overbridges, toll plazas, toilets blocks and fuel stations was also going on in full swing.
The bituminous level work on 227 km of the expressway had been completed in record time. The plan was to inaugurate Bundelkhand expressway soon, he said.
The acquisition of 94% land for 594 km long Ganga expressway that will pass through 12 districts- Meerut, Hapur, Bulandshahr, Amroha, Sambhal, Badaun, Shahjahanpur, Hardoi, Unnao, Rae Bareli, Pratapgarh and Prayagraj--- has been completed.
The acquisition of the remaining land was continuing on aa war footing. Prime Minister Narendra Modi was likely to lay the foundation of the ₹36,229.67-crore expressway next month, he said.
As much as 99% clearing and grubbing work and 50% earth work on the 91.352 km long Gorakhpur Link expressway that will pass through - Gorakhpur, Sant Kabir Nagar, Ambedkar Nagar and Azamgarh had been completed. The total physical progress of the project was more than 29%. Despite the delay caused by the Covid pandemic, the construction agencies were working to bring the construction rate to pre- pandemic period, he said.
