Yogi Adityanath said the Centre will release Rs 10,000 crore to build roads in Uttar Pradesh. (File)
Claiming to have inherited a legacy of 1.21 lakh km of potholed highways, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath today said the state for the first time will see a large number of projects for economically backward areas like Bundelkhand.
Addressing the media jointly with Road Transport, Highways and Shipping Minister Nitin Gadkari, after a review meeting of projects in the state, Mr Adityanath said a large number of projects that were languishing will roll out now and every village in Uttar Pradesh will witness "
pakka road connectivity".
"I feel sad to tell that when we took oath, we got 1.21 lakh km of highways full of potholes. Now, I am happy to say that the desire of people of Uttar Pradesh has been fulfilled and a large number of projects were cleared in one go today," Mr Adityanath said.
He said that this was the first time that a huge number of projects were cleared and roads will be built at a cost of Rs 10,000 crore from the central road fund.
"In UP, Eastern UP and Bundelkhand had been subjected to economic backwardness. This is for the first time that we have approved a six-lane Expressway project for Bundelkhand from Tiruwa to Jhansi via Agra Lucknow Expressway. Six lanes will be built till Jhansi and from there it will be four lane via Trikoot to Allahabad. The project has been given in-principle nod and detailed project report will be ready soon," he said.
Besides, a consensus has been reached to construct a ring road for all major cities in the state including Allahabad, Lucknow, Gorakhpur, Bareilly, Kanpur, Moradabad and Meerut, he said.
"Seven important highways have been approved for the state capital Lucknow," he said, thanking Mr Gadkari for heeding the plight of people in Uttar Pradesh "with an open heart".
"Several projects were pending for years and were not moving. This meeting has resulted in rolling out of these," he said and added that 73 state highways totalling 6,260 km will be converted into National Highways soon.
Apart from this, 15 state highways will also be converted into National Highways.
The Chief Minister said he was glad that every parliamentary constituency can see construction of 6-10 big highway projects from central road fund and "each village in Uttar Pradesh will be connected with pakka roads.