Agra-Lucknow E-way opens with Mirage, Sukhoi landing, taking off

The 302-km-long access-controlled expressway, completed in a record 23 months, has a 3.3 km runway for IAF jets to land and take off during emergency

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Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav and ruling Samajwadi Party (SP) president Mulayam Singh Yadav today inaugurated the 302-km-long Agra-Lucknow Expressway, which would cut travel time between the two cities by half.

The main feature of the access-controlled greenfield expressway, completed in a record 23 months, is that it has a 3.3-km-long runway in Unnao district, offering landing and takeoff facilities for Indian Air Force (IAF) fighter planes during emergency.

A grand air show featuring six Mirage and Sukhoi figher jets presented a perfect prelude to the inaugural ceremony of the expressway, one of Akhilseh's flagship projects, apart from Lucknow Metro and Lucknow IT City.

Constructed at a cost of about Rs 15,000 crore, the expressway  was inaugurated on the eve of Mulayam’s 78th birthday, as promised by Akhilesh to his father.

The six-lane expressway, which could be extended to eight lanes, traverses 10 districts -- Agra, Firozabad, Mainpuri, Etawah, Auraiya, Kannauj, Kanpur City, Unnao, Hardoi and Lucknow. It would provide seamless connectivity between Lucknow and Agra via the already operational Yamuna Expressway.

Addressing the ceremony at Bangaurmau in Unnao, Akhilesh said the expressway would spur economic activity in the region and pave the way for the ruling SP to return to power in the 2017 UP polls. Akhilesh arrived at the venue aboard his Rath, which has been specially designed for his ‘Samajwadi Vikas Rath Yatra’.

He took a swipe at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government at the Centre saying the party had no achievements to boast about in the run-up to elections and that the people would witness more shocks in the days ahead, apart from the recent demonetisation.

Meanwhile, Mulayam, who has on most occasions been critical of the Akhilesh government and its officials, showered praise on the CM for completing the expressway in record time against its earlier projected timeline of four years.

"When I was requested to lay the foundation of the expressway, I had insisted it should be completed in 22 months and I am happy that the state ministers, officials and the concessionaires have fulfilled the arduous task," he added. Mulayam said the Akhilesh government was the best performing dispensation in India and had firmly put UP on the path of faster economic development.

"There are sections conspiring to tar UP, citing bad law and order situation and backwardness. But, Akhilesh is doing good work and providing free education and medical care, besides tackling the challenges of power, road, water and providing jobs," he underlined.

The Akhilesh government has proposed another expressway to link eastern UP with Lucknow and thus to link the National Capital Region (NCR) with the entire state. The proposed Lucknow-Ballia Samajwadi Purvanchal Expressway would cut across the nine districts of Lucknow, Barabanki, Amethi, Faizabad, Sultanpur, Ambedkar Nagar, Azamgarh, Mau and Ghazipur.

Meanwhile, the occasion served as an opportunity to SP to prove that its house was in order, following the recent unsavoury public acrimony between its top leaders notably Akhilesh, his uncle Shivpal Singh Yadav and party general secretary Ramgopal Yadav. All the key leaders were present on the occasion and seen exchanging pleasantries.