Phaphamau-Sahason road to be widened before Mahakumbh

Prayagraj: After state government’s nod, the pace of work for several development projects related to Mahakumbh has gathered momentum. Among these, two important projects pertain to widening of two roads that are vital for movement of devotees arriving for the mega religious fair.One of them is widening of 17Km long Phaphamau-Sahason road for which Rs 154 crore have been sanctioned. This road will give devotees coming from eastern UP districts like Jaunpur, Azamgarh, Mau, Ballia, Gorakhpur and Deoria an easy access in the mela area besides serving the purpose of ‘by-pass’ for traffic that wants to move towards Pratapgarh and Lucknow without entering the city.The road is currently 10m wide and will be widened to 15m. Along with this, a bridge over the Mansaita river and an ROB will also be constructed at the railway crossing.“Funds have been sanctioned and the work would begin soon after the tender process,” said Mahakumbh Mela Adhikari Vijay Kiran Anand.Likewise, the road leading to Prayagraj Airport would be made four-lane before the end of this year. An amount of Rs 102 crore would be spent to widen and remove turnings on this stretch from Pipalgaon to Kaushambi. Of this, the length of the road from Pipalgaon to airport is 1.9 km and the process of acquiring 9.33 hectare (about 38 bighas) of land from farmers for widening the road from airport to Kaushambi is almost complete.Presently the stretch of road, from Pipalgaon to airport, is quite problematic for commuters who have to deal with snail pace of traffic because of narrow roads with lots of turns. There are about 17 turning points on the way which is also a cause for frequent accidents.“To remove these turns, land has been purchased from the farmers,” said executive engineer, provincial division, PWD Kaushal Kumar Jha. He added that the 42 Km road from Prayagraj to Kaushambi is to be made four-lane of which the 10Km stretch is in Prayagraj.
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