Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived on stage in the presence of UP Prime Minister Yogi Adityanath and Governor Anandiben Patel to inaugurate the Purvanchal Expressway in Karwal Kheri, Sultanpur district.
He landed in a C130 Hercules aircraft on the 3.2 kilometer runway built on the highway. He will soon be attending an Indian Air Force air show. The Purvanchal Highway, over 340 km long, will cut the travel time between Lucknow and Ghazipur from 6 hours to 3.5 hours. The highway departs from Chandsarai village in Lucknow and ends at Haidaria village located on national road 31 in Ghazipur (18 km from the UPBihar border). It will include seven main bridges, seven railway viaducts, 114 minor bridges and 271 underpasses.
An official statement said the six-lane highway may be extended to eight lanes in the future. The airstrip on the highway will allow the landing and take-off of IAF fighter jets in the event of an emergency.The groundbreaking event will also see the Mirage 2000 and Su30MKI aircraft perform several takeoffs and landings on the emergency airstrip. PM Modi is also to hold a public meeting at a nearby location. The inauguration comes months before the 2022 legislative elections in Uttar Pradesh.
Built at an estimated cost of around Rs 22,500 crore, the Purvanchal highway will boost the economic development of the eastern parts of Uttar Pradesh, particularly the districts of Lucknow, Barabanki, Amethi, Ayodhya, Sultanpur, Ambedkar Nagar , Azamgarh, Mau and Ghazipur, the official statement said. The area around the venue of the program in Sultanpur was decorated in saffron color, while the airstrip and the partition wall were also decorated. the fighter plane will carry out touchandgo operations on the highway.
Sukhoi, Mirage, Rafale and AN32 planes will participate in the air show, he said. Prime Minister Modi and Defense Minister Rajnath Singh will land on the runway aboard a C130 Hercules aircraft for the inauguration on Tuesday. In July 2018, Modi laid the foundation for the Purvanchal highway in Azamgarh.
