Foundation of `5K crore Lko outer ring road to be laid today
Union minister for Road Transport Nitin Gadkari would lay the foundation stone of 104-km Lucknow outer ring road here on Friday. Union home minister Rajnath Singh, who represents the Lucknow Lok Sabha constituency in Parliament, would also be present on the occasion.
The `5,000 crore project, which is expected to decongest the state capital, was earlier scheduled for a take off last July. According to an official, the Uttar Pradesh government would contribute only for a 14-km stretch under the project, which would be given shape by the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI).
According to programme, Rajnath Singh would reach Lucknow at around 4 pm at Lucknow Airport from where he would go directly to Jhulelal ground on the banks of the Gomti to lay along with Gadkari the foundation stone for the road project .
He is later scheduled to visit the residences of former Lucknow mayor Dr S C Rai , who died recently and former MP Lalji Tandon, to express his condolence on the death of his nephew.
The Lucknow outer ring road when it takes shape will facilitate commuters to avoid those long, never-ending traffic snarls and zip through to their destination in no time. “We have set a three-year time frame from the date of awarding of tenders to develop this 60-metre wide, four-lane ring road. The right of way on both the sides of Sharda Canal, however, would be 100-metres,” said the official associated with the project.
He said the project would be developed on public-privatepartnership and build-operate and transfer mode.
The initial plan was to develop a 188-kilometer road. But after several revisions and discussions with the stake-holders, the authorities decided to prune the length.
“The ground realities have changed. Some land earmarked for the project has been encroached. Hence, we hammered out a compromise formula under which we have taken available land parcels and frozen the alignment,” said the official. The land for the 80 km stretch would be acquired by the centre and remaining 24-km by the state government.