Purvanchal Expressway

In News

• The 341-km Purvanchal Expressway at Karwal Kheri in Sultanpur district, inaugurated by the Prime Minister is one of the biggest completed infrastructure projects by the Uttar Pradesh government.

• The launch comes almost 3 years after the Prime minister laid its foundation stone in Azamgarh in July 2018.

Major Highlights

• Carrier of development: The infrastructure project, which is one of the biggest completed by the Uttar Pradesh government and cost an estimated Rs 22,496 crore, has been billed as the “carrier of development” to the underdeveloped Purvanchal region.
• Location: The expressway starts from Chandsarai village in the district of Lucknow located on the Lucknow-Sultanpur road and ends at Haidaria village on National Highway 31 in Ghazipur district.
  • It is currently a six-lane wide highway and can be expanded to eight-lane in the future.
• Land banks: The government has developed land banks along the expressway and the Uttar Pradesh Expressways Industrial Development Authority has been authorised to develop industrial hubs along the highway.

Significance

• Landing an aircraft: The Expressway has a 3.2-kilometre-long airstrip which has been developed with the sole purpose of launching and landing aircraft during emergency situations.
  • The strip can hold not just fighter aircraft but heavily loaded transport aircraft as well.
• Emergency: The strip will boost Indian Air Force capabilities not just during wartime but also in unavoidable situations like the emergency landing of planes due to accidents.
  • The development of the strip is a low-cost solution for the military to boost its prowess in the region instead of developing a full-time base.
• Reducing the travel time: It will reduce the travel time between Lucknow to Buxar in Bihar from seven hours to nearly four hours.
  • It establishes a direct link between the NCR and eastern Uttar Pradesh till almost the Bihar border.
• Boost to the economic development: Purvanchal Expressway is going to give a boost to the economic development of eastern parts of Uttar Pradesh, especially the districts of Lucknow, Barabanki, Amethi, Ayodhya, Sultanpur, Ambedkar Nagar, Azamgarh, Mau and Ghazipur.

Source: IE