Prayag Link Expressway: Keshav Prasad Maurya adds 100 kms to Yogi Adityanath's e-way
, ET Bureau|
Updated: Feb 27, 2018, 07.35 AM IST
NEW DELHI: The Uttar Pradesh government is planning a 100-km expressway link from the Purvanchal Expressway to Allahabad, to which deputy chief minister Keshav Prasad Maurya belongs.
This comes shortly after a nearly 100-km long expressway link was approved for chief minister Yogi Adityanath's erstwhile constituency of Gorakhpur from the 352-km-long Purvanchal Expressway and Rs 550 cr allotted in the recent state budget.
The state government has ordered a pre-feasibility study for the proposed 'Prayag Link Expressway'. Minutes of a meeting of the board of the UP Expressways Industrial Development Authority on January 16 this year reveal that Maurya proposed the link expressway to Allahabad and that the plan is to begin the construction before the Kumbh Mela scheduled to be held next year in January.
Maurya, who earlier represented Phulpur, the Lok Sabha constituency abutting Allahabad, is also the minister for the UP Public Works Department (PWD), which is in charge of construction of most roads and bridges in the state.
"The board was informed that the deputy chief minister has desired that action be taken to link the pilgrimage centre of Prayag (Allahabad) with Purvanchal Expressway," the minutes say.
The proposed expressway, a fourlane road may branch off near Sultanpur from the Purvanchal Expressway to Allahabad, an area presently serviced by a poorly-maintained highway that results in a three-hour ride.
"The new expressway link may reduce the ride to just about an hour. Allahabad is a major pilgrimage centre and needs a fast access road. Next year, the Maha Kumbh is being held there," said a senior BJP leader, who did not wish to be identified. The exact alignment of the link expressway will be determined after the pre-feasibility study, which is to be completed in a few months.
The opposition recently questioned the decision to link Adityanath's home town of Gorakhpur with the new under-construction Purvanchal Expressway, with former CM Akhilesh Yadav asking why he was questioned for the alignment of the Agra-Lucknow Expressway close to his native village of Saifai. He also asked why the state government had dropped a link expressway to Varanasi which his government had initially planned from the Purvanchal Expressway.
"The link expressway to Varanasi has been dropped as the existing national highway to the city is being widened. The state PWD department is building a 20-km link road to Ayodhya from Purvanchal Expressway," the BJP leader said.
The link expressway to Gorakhpur and Allahabad will bring key "northsouth" connectivity in eastern UP where all major roads were presently aligned west-east, officials said. The foundation stone of Purvanchal Expressway is sto be laid on the first anniversary of the Adityanath government on March 19, they said.
This comes shortly after a nearly 100-km long expressway link was approved for chief minister Yogi Adityanath's erstwhile constituency of Gorakhpur from the 352-km-long Purvanchal Expressway and Rs 550 cr allotted in the recent state budget.
The state government has ordered a pre-feasibility study for the proposed 'Prayag Link Expressway'. Minutes of a meeting of the board of the UP Expressways Industrial Development Authority on January 16 this year reveal that Maurya proposed the link expressway to Allahabad and that the plan is to begin the construction before the Kumbh Mela scheduled to be held next year in January.
Maurya, who earlier represented Phulpur, the Lok Sabha constituency abutting Allahabad, is also the minister for the UP Public Works Department (PWD), which is in charge of construction of most roads and bridges in the state.
"The board was informed that the deputy chief minister has desired that action be taken to link the pilgrimage centre of Prayag (Allahabad) with Purvanchal Expressway," the minutes say.
The proposed expressway, a fourlane road may branch off near Sultanpur from the Purvanchal Expressway to Allahabad, an area presently serviced by a poorly-maintained highway that results in a three-hour ride.
"The new expressway link may reduce the ride to just about an hour. Allahabad is a major pilgrimage centre and needs a fast access road. Next year, the Maha Kumbh is being held there," said a senior BJP leader, who did not wish to be identified. The exact alignment of the link expressway will be determined after the pre-feasibility study, which is to be completed in a few months.
The opposition recently questioned the decision to link Adityanath's home town of Gorakhpur with the new under-construction Purvanchal Expressway, with former CM Akhilesh Yadav asking why he was questioned for the alignment of the Agra-Lucknow Expressway close to his native village of Saifai. He also asked why the state government had dropped a link expressway to Varanasi which his government had initially planned from the Purvanchal Expressway.
"The link expressway to Varanasi has been dropped as the existing national highway to the city is being widened. The state PWD department is building a 20-km link road to Ayodhya from Purvanchal Expressway," the BJP leader said.
The link expressway to Gorakhpur and Allahabad will bring key "northsouth" connectivity in eastern UP where all major roads were presently aligned west-east, officials said. The foundation stone of Purvanchal Expressway is sto be laid on the first anniversary of the Adityanath government on March 19, they said.
