LUCKNOW: Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to land on the 3.3-km airstrip on the Purvnachal Expressway at Sultanpur in a C-130J Super Hercules transport aircraft on Tuesday.
The 341-km expressway is one of the major infrastructure projects to be inaugurated in Uttar Pradesh ahead of assembly elections due early next year.
The Prime Minister will then inaugurate the six-lane Purvanchal Expressway which will connect state capital Lucknow with Ghazipur in eastern UP. According to the Uttar Pradesh government, the 341-km Purvanchal Expressway will originate from Chandsarai village on Lucknow-Sultanpur highway and terminate at Haldariya village in Ghazipur district.
The expressway will pass through eastern UP districts including Barabanki, Amethi, Sultanpur, Faizabad, Ambedkar Nagar, Azamgarh, Mau. There are link roads to Sangam city of Prayagraj and the holy city of Varanasi.
The expressway has a 3.3 km long stretch of the airstrip, which every expressway is deemed to have, for the emergency landing of fighter aircraft near Sultanpur.
On the day of the inauguration, an airshow will also take place in the presence of the PM wherein while some of the aircraft will land on the runway constructed near Kurebhar village in Sultanpur district, others will participate in the touch-and-go landings.
A rehearsal was conducted by the IAF on Friday where senior officials were present Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, who has been overseeing the preparations for the inauguration of the ambitious infrastructure project, said in Sultanpur that the expressway would become the backbone of eastern UP's economy.
The Prime Minister had laid the foundation of the expressway in July 2018. CM Yogi claimed that the expressway was completed in time despite 19 months of the pandemic driven lockdown.
Immediately after the inauguration, an air show will be organised by the Indian Air Force (IAF) on the 3.3-km airstrip and it would be watched by PM Modi and other dignitaries.
The six-lane expressway will be expandable up to eight lanes. After it is thrown open to the public, the travel time from Lucknow to Ghazipur will be reduced from 6 hours to 3.5 hours.
The expressway will have seven major bridges, seven railway overbridges, 114 minor bridges and 271 underpasses. Police vehicles, cattle catcher vehicles and ambulances will be deployed for safety and medical emergencies.