Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday inaugurated the 594-km-long Ganga expressway in Uttar Pradesh’s Hardoi district. The six-lane (expandable to eight) expressway connects Meerut to Prayagraj and reduces travel time from 11 hours to six hours.
“You all are seeing how the entire world is caught in war, unrest, and instability today. The situation in major countries is dire, but India is progressing at the same pace on the path of development. External enemies do not like this, and some internal people, hungry for power, are trying to bring down. Yet, we are not only safe, but are also breaking new records of development,” PM Modi said calling for Atmanirbhar Bharat (self-reliant India).
He said that the Samajwadi Party (SP) does not like the state’s progress and wants to “push it back into its old era”. “The SP is not only anti-development but also anti-women. Recent events have exposed their mindset,” he said referring to the women’s quota bill. He said that the state had become a ‘jungle raj’ under previous UP governments.
“Once upon a time, Uttar Pradesh was known for its potholes. Today, it has become the state with the most expressways in the country. Today, Uttar Pradesh has 21 airports, including five international airports,” he said.
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Chief minister Yogi Adityanath said that in December 2021, PM Modi had laid the foundation stone of the expressway and had given UP the vision to complete it within the set time frame.
CM in a post on X, said the state’s development journey would gain new momentum with the inauguration.
The expressway built at a cost of ₹36,230 crore, connects 12 key districts: Meerut, Hapur, Bulandshahr, Amroha, Sambhal, Badaun, Shahjahanpur, Hardoi, Unnao, Rae Bareli, Pratapgarh and Prayagraj.
It is developed under a public-private partnership model, with a design speed of 120 kmph.
One of its key features is a 3.2-km-long airstrip near Shahjahanpur for the emergency landing of Air Force aircraft. The expressway is also equipped with an Intelligent Traffic Management System (ITMS), CCTV surveillance, emergency call boxes, ambulances and patrolling units to ensure safety.
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