Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday said that identity of Uttar Pradesh is changing, the state is developing in every field. Speaking after inaugurating the Bundelkhand Expressway at Kaitheri village in Orai tehsil of Jalaun district in Uttar Pradesh, the Prime Minister said that now development is reaching to every part of state, ending the imbalance of growth and this is also a kind of social justice.
He said that law and order and connectivity were two areas where the state was lagging behind on the path of development, but now both things have improved and the kind of development work which is happening now has not happened in last 70 years.
He said that this Bundelkhand Expressway will benefit the industrial growth of the region. Agriculture-based industries will flourish and it will help the defence corridor resulting the overall development of the region.
Talking about the water problem of the region, the Prime Minister said that many irrigation projects along with ‘Har Ghar Jal’ Scheme will end many problems of Bundelkhand.
He said that after 2017, connectivity has reached to the small cities in Uttar Pradesh and now every part and region of state is getting connected by road and by air also, which is ‘Sabkka Saath, Sabka Vikas’ in real terms. Mr Modi said that the forts along with the Bundelkhand Expressway will help in increasing tourism and youth will be easily connected with it.
Talking about the development projects in the country, the Prime Minister said that with Gati-Shakti Master Plan we are architecting the country of 21 century. He counted many projects which were started by State Government and completed by the same government.
He urged people to celebrate ‘Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav’ and remember the heroes of our freedom struggle in the coming month. Nothing should be done which hampers the development of the country.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi planted a sapling of Harishankari at the expressway also. Painting and Ghamcha made in Bundelkhandi Chaanderi style was gifted by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on this occasion.
Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said that this expressway will help in establishing Jhansi and Chitrakoot node of Defence corridor. He said that Jalaun district is also on number one in completing Ghaarauni of the villages in Bundelkhand region.
He said that Bundelkhand region is now getting benefit of many schemes launched by Union and State Government and very soon ‘Har Ghar Jal’ project is going to be completed and will eradicate the water problem.
The 296-kilometre long, four-lane Bundelkhand Expressway passes through seven districts, Chitrakoot, Banda, Mahoba, Hamirpur, Jalaun, Auraiya and Etawah.
The 296-Km, four-lane expressway has been constructed at a cost of around 14,850 crore rupees. It can later be expanded upto six lanes as well.
It extends from NH-35 at Gonda village near Bharatkoop in Chitrakoot district to near Kudrail village in Etawah district, where it merges with the Agra-Lucknow expressway.
The expressway will have four railway bridges , 18 big bridges along with 286 small bridges.
Provision of Rainwater harvesting has also been made at every 500 metres on the expressway. The fourth expressway project in Uttar Pradesh has been completed in record 28 months – eight months ahead of its deadline.
The project is also significant as most of it was completed during the COVID-19 pandemic and was one of the sources for providing employment to migrant labourers returning to the state.
Along with improving connectivity in the region, the Bundelkhand Expressway will also give a major boost to economic development, resulting in the creation of thousands of jobs for the local people.
Work on the creation of industrial corridor in Banda and Jalaun districts, next to the Expressway, has already been started.