BY PRACHETA GUPTA IN LUCKNOW: Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the Rs 14,850 crore Bundelkhand Expressway in Uttar Pradesh on Saturday. Bundelkhand expressway will connect the state’s dry and backward region with Delhi.
This is not only an expressway connecting to Delhi, but it also makes Uttar Pradesh a 1225-kilometer operational network.
It will be Uttar Pradesh’s sixth expressway. The other five operational expressways are the Purvanchal Expressway (341 kilometers), the Yamuna Expressway (302 kilometers), the Delhi-Meerut Expressway (96 kilometers), and the Noida-Greater Noida Expressway (25km).
Bundelkhand Expressway will ensure seamless connectivity and further economic progress in the region. https://t.co/bwQz2ZBGuZ
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) July 16, 2022
SALIENT FEATURES
The Bundelkhand Expressway runs from Chitrakoot to Etawah in Uttar Pradesh. The road will cater to the Bundelkhand region, which is divided between the states of Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh, situated along the southwestern edge of UP.
The total cost of the project is projected to be Rs 15,000 crore. However, through e-tendering, Yogi Adityanath’s government has saved Rs 1,132 crore, or about 12.73 per cent of the initial anticipated cost.
In the future, the four-lane freeway could be expanded to six lanes. It would connect seven districts of Uttar Pradesh, including Chitrakoot, Banda, Mohaba, Hamirpur, Jalaun, Auraiya, and Etawah, and will have 13 interchange locations.
The distance from Chitrakoot to Delhi via the Bundelkhand expressway has been reduced by three to four hours, according to PM Modi, but the benefit is much greater.
Modi stated that the expressway will not only increase vehicle speed, but will also accelerate the industrial progress of the entire Bundelkhand region.
He emphasised that Uttar Pradesh is undergoing a significant transformation under the leadership of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, with improved law and order and rapidly improving connectivity.
The e-way begins near Bharatkoop on the Jhansi-Prayagraj National Highway Number-35 in Chitrakoot and ends near the village Kudrail in Etawah on the Agra-Lucknow highway.
Bagen, Ken, Shyama, Chandawal, Birma, Yamuna, Betwa, and Sengar rivers will also be crossed by the road.
Four railway overbridges are proposed for the expressway. The highway will also have 14 big bridges, six toll plazas, seven ramp plazas, 266 minor bridges, and 18 flyovers.
It is projected to cut the travel time between Delhi and Chitrakoot to six hours.
The Bundelkhand Expressway is critical to the development of Uttar Pradesh’s upcoming defense corridor. Work on an industrial corridor has also begun in the Banda and Jalaun areas.
