A part of the newly inaugurated Uttar Pradesh's Bundelkhand Expressway has been caved in due to rain, weeks after Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the 296-km long stretch of road. Reportedly, the Expressway was built at about 1,400 Cr in 28 months.
The PM laid the foundation stone of Bundelkhand Expressway on February 29, 2020, and inaugurated the same on July 16, 2022. The four-lane connect Bharatkoop in Chitrakoot with Kudrel in Etawah after passing through districts like Banda, Hamirpur, Mahoba, Jalaun, and Auraiya. Near Etawah, it gets connected with the Agra-Lucknow Expressway.
The construction of the Bundelkhand Expressway has been done in a manner that, if required in future, can be converted into a six-lane expressway. It was built by the state government under the supervision of top-notch engineers with a vision to provide a hassle-free and quick mode of travel.
According to officials, a motorcycle and two cars met in an accident on Wednesday near Chhiriya region in Salempur on the four-lane Expressway. The Public Relations officer of Uttar Pradesh Expressways Industrial Development Authority (UPEIDA), Durgesh Upadhyay, said that the road was not completely submerged.
He added that a part of the road was buried due to waterlogging, and the team repaired it, after which the traffic started again. While the repair was in progress, someone filmed the work and made it viral, reported India Today.
Political Showdown
Many political parties, including Samajwadi Party (SP) and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), slammed UP's BJP government by sharing the video of the highway, which can be seen caved-in.
The Chief of SP, Akhilesh Yadav, said, "This is a sample of the quality of BJP's half-hearted development. The Bundelkhand Expressway was inaugurated by 'big people' (an indirect attack on PM Modi), and within a week, a huge pit of corruption came out on it. It is good that the runway was not built on it."
Following SP, the AAP also slammed the BJP government over its failure to make the Expressway per the people's expectations. The party shared a video of the caved-in road on its official Twitter handle.
15 हजार करोड़ की लागत से बना एक्सप्रेसवे अगर बरसात के 5 दिन भी ना झेल सके तो उसकी गुणवत्ता पर गंभीर प्रश्न खड़े होते हैं।
— Varun Gandhi (@varungandhi80) July 21, 2022
इस प्रोजेक्ट के मुखिया, सम्बंधित इंजीनियर और जिम्मेदार कंपनियों को तत्काल तलब कर उनपर कड़ी कार्यवाही सुनिश्चित करनी होगी।#BundelkhandExpressway pic.twitter.com/krD6G07XPo
According to officials, the road has now been repaired, and the traffic is also started. The checking of the entire Expressway is also on-progress so that no similar incident occurs in the future.