Purvanchal Expressway project: UP chief secretary gives deadline to officials

Uttar Pradesh chief secretary Anup Chandra Pandey Sunday asked officials to ensure that the Purvanchal Expressway project is completed by August 2020. Inspecting the ongoing works of the ambitious project of the Yogi Adityanath government, Pandey told officials that no negligence will be tolerated at any level.

"Officials should ensure appropriate action to acquire the remaining land by June 15. Works related to the power connection, installation of transformer and shifting should be completed by the end of this month," he said. "The expressway should be ready for use by the public by August 2020," he added.

Pandey said the total length of the expressway is 340.824 km, out of which 10 per cent of the physical work has been completed. He also said that 96.06 per cent of the land has been acquired from the farmers and the remaining will be taken soon.

Chief Executive Officer of Uttar Pradesh Expressways Industrial Development Authority (UPEIDA) Awanish Kumar Awasthi said the construction has been divided into eight packages. He also said that the Purvanchal Expressway will start from village Chand Sarai in Lucknow and end in Haidariya village in Ghazipur district.

Concerned district magistrates and senior officers were present during the ground inspection and review meeting. The six-lane Purvanchal Expressway, expandable to eight lanes, will connect Lucknow with the economically less developed districts like Azamgarh, Mau, Ghazipur, Faizabad, Sultanpur, Ambedkar Nagar and Amethi.

It will bring about the development of the state's eastern districts by connecting them to the state capital and further to Agra and New Delhi, through the Lucknow-Agra Expressway and the Yamuna Expressway, officials said.

(With inputs from agencies.)