The 341 km-long six-lane Purvanchal Expressway project nears completion and is expected to be completed by June 30, 2021. About 65-70 percent of the construction has been completed, while the construction of bridges and flyovers remains. In his interview with CW, Awanish Kumar Awasthi, Additional chief secretary of government of UP and CEO of UPEIDA said, “ The project, despite the first and second wave of Covid, will be completed before the original time schedule which was August 2021 and will be completed in between June 15 and 30.” The eight package project received 39 bids and is ahead of its schedule as per the Uttar Pradesh government. The Government of Uttar Pradesh has set up an Authority called ‘Uttar Pradesh Expressways Industrial Development Authority’ (UPEIDA) under UP Industrial Area Development Act. The starting point of the project is Village Chandsarai, Lucknow situated on Lucknow-Sultanpur Road (NH-56) and the end point is Village Haidaria,Ghazipur situated on National Highway-31,18 km before Uttar Pradesh-Bihar border. The construction has been undertaken with the intention to bring the economically backward eastern part of the state into mainstream.The expressway aims to provide Eastern UP with unhindered and fast access to national Capital, New Delhi via Agra Lucknow Expressway, Yamuna Expressway and NOIDA-Greater Noida Expressway. Tenders of the project Purvanchal Expressway has been divided into eight packages. Tenders were invited for all the eight packages simultaneously so that an individual construction firm can be awarded a maximum of two packages. Total 39 bids were received for the eight packages. The expressway will be constructed six-lane wide(expandable to 8-Lane) while structures of the expressway shall be constructed for eight lane width. Width of Right Of Way (ROW) shall be 120 meters. A service road of 3.75 metres black top shall be constructed on one side of Expressway in a staggered manner to facilitate easy movement for the inhabitants of adjacent villages. A total of 17 lakh man-days are being created directly in the construction of Purvanchal Expressway out of which 1.5 lakh man days for technical personnel, 4.7 lakh man days for skilled workers and 11 lakh man days for semi-skilled and unskilled workers. Thus, Purvanchal Expressway is a spinner of job creation during the construction stage. Post construction, following benefits are envisaged: By construction of Purvanchal Expressway, eastern parts of the state will get connected to the capital of state and therefrom through Agra-Lucknow Expressway and Yamuna Expressway to the capital of the country through a fast and smooth road corridor. All round development of the state shall be possible by easy movement of goods and traffic from remote corners of the state. Areas covered by Expressway will have enhanced opportunities for social and Industrial progress.Tourism and business will also get a boost by construction of Purvanchal Expressway. Production units, industries , agricultural production centers shall get smooth connectivity to the state capital as well as the National capital which will prove beneficial for them. It will be easier to set up Industrial Training Institutes, Medical Centres etc. near the Expressway. Handloom industry, khadi industry, milk products producing industries shall get a fast corridor for the movement of their products all across the country which will go a long way in their accelerated growth. Image source