Cabinet clears six-laning of Chakeri-Allahabad highway

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) on Wednesday approved six-laning of Chakeri-Allahabad section of National Highway-2 (NH-2) in Uttar Pradesh.

The approval came at a (CCEA) meeting, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The estimated cost of six-laning has been estimated at Rs 3,691 crore, which includes the cost of land acquisition, resettlement and rehabilitation and other pre-construction activities. The total length of the road stretch to be developed is approximately 145 km.

This work will be done under the National Highways Development Project (NHDP) Phase V on Hybrid Annuity Mode.

"The project will help in expediting the improvement of infrastructure in Uttar Pradesh and in reducing the time and cost of travel for traffic, particularly heavy traffic, plying between Chakeri and Allahabad.

"The development of this stretch will also help the socio-economic condition of this region in the state," an official statement said.

This project on NH-2 is a part of Golden Quadrilateral between Delhi and Kolkata.

The project road will have direct influence on the south-western part of Uttar Pradesh. Important towns and urban settlements en route are Kanpur Nagar, Ruma, Chaudagra, Malwa, Fatehpur and Kaushambi.

Kanpur is one of the oldest famous industrial townships of north India. It is also included in the "Counter-Magnets" of the National Capital Region.

Allahabad is a famous pilgrimage centre, with ancient historical monuments and buildings as well as many educational institutions.

In the project, there is a provision of 11 truck lay-bys where trucks stop mainly for loading and unloading. There is also provision of bus lay-bys at 18 locations. Nine flyovers are also proposed in addition to 14 vehicular underpasses and 25 pedestrian underpasses, the statement said.

"The project would also increase employment potential for local labourers for project activities. It has been estimated that a total number of 4,076 mandays are required for construction of one kilometre of highway.

"As such, employment potential of 5,91,000 (approx.) mandays will be generated locally during the construction period of this stretch," it added.

--IANS

ao/nir