'A new chapter of development': Narendra Modi inaugurates 341-km-long Purvanchal Expressway

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday inaugurated the 341-km Purvanchal Expressway in Uttar Pradesh after landing on the highway airstrip in an IAF C-130 Hercules plane.Governor Anandiben Patel and Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath received the prime minister at the airstrip.The 3.2-km airstrip has been constructed on the expressway to facilitate emergency landing of fighter aircraft.Speaking at the event, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said, “Those who have any doubt on capabilities of Uttar Pradesh, on capabilities of people of UP should come to Sultanpur today to witness their capability. Such a modern expressway has now come up where it was just a piece of land 3-4 years back.”While expressing the significance of the infrastructure project, the prime minister said, "It was also a fact that a vast state like UP was earlier cut off from each other to a great extent. People used to go to different parts but were worried due to lack of connectivity with each other. For previous chief ministers, development was limited to where they had their homes. However, Purvanchal Expressway is bridging this gap in UP today, connecting UP with each other."He took jibes at Akhilesh Yadav, saying, “Previous UP govt only cared about their family wealth.”He also said that the previous government in UP "did not support me in its development". "The poor should get pucca houses, the poor should have toilets, women should not have to go out to defecate in the open, everyone should have electricity in their homes, there were many such works which needed to be done here. But I am deeply pained that the then government in UP did not support me," he added.He added the expressway was connecting Purvanchal and said it would benefit all of Uttar Pradesh and would also make travel from Delhi and Bihar to UP easier."I'm happy that today this region is writing a new chapter of development,” he said at the event.Constructed at an estimated cost of about Rs 22,500 crore, the Purvanchal Expressway starts from Chandsarai village in the district of Lucknow located on the Lucknow-Sultanpur road and ends at Haidaria village on National Highway 31 in Ghazipur district. It is currently a six-lane wide highway and can be expanded to eight-lane in the future.It will have seven major bridges, seven railway overbridges, 114 minor bridges, and 271 underpasses.As per reported information, the 341-kilometre-long expressway will reduce the travel time between Lucknow to Buxar in Bihar from seven hours to nearly four hours. Once it is opened to the public, the travel time from Lucknow to Ghazipur will be reduced from six hours to three-and-a-half-hours.On Monday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that he would be inaugurating the expressway at 1.30 pm on Tuesday.Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath also hailed the Purvanchal Expressway as the backbone of UP's economy. "Undoubtedly, this expressway will prove helpful in fulfilling the resolve of making the state a $1 trillion economy under the guidance of the Prime Minister," CM Adityanath tweeted.From the airstrip venue, the prime minister will witness an air show by different aircraft.With inputs from agencies