Section of Rs 4,700-crore UP expressway caves in 12 days after inauguration
A section of the Greenfield Elevated Expressway in Uttar Pradesh's Unnao caved in just 12 days after its inauguration, raising fresh concerns over the quality
A section of the Greenfield Elevated Expressway in Uttar Pradesh's Unnao caved in just 12 days after its inauguration, raising fresh concerns over the quality of construction. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari, and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath inaugurated the Lucknow-Kanpur Expressway after inspecting the project at kilometre 49 in Unnao. Read Full Story The damaged stretch, located near Korari in Unnao, sank over a distance of around five to seven metres. The incident occurred on the Kanpur-to-Lucknow carriageway during heavy rainfall. According to reports, continuous rain caused the soil beneath the road to shift, leading to the collapse of a section of the expressway.
A video of the cave-in has gone viral on social media after Samajwadi Party leader Madhusudan Yadav shared footage of the damaged road and questioned the quality of construction on the multi-crore project. He also criticised the functioning of the agencies involved in the project and raised concerns over quality control. In the video, Yadav said he noticed the damaged section while travelling on the Lucknow-Kanpur Elevated Expressway near Korari on the Kanpur-to-Lucknow side. Referring to the recent inauguration attended by Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, he alleged that the government had made tall claims about the quality of the expressway, but the road had already suffered serious damage.
The damaged portion was later repaired through patchwork and restored. The latest incident comes months after the same expressway suffered damage even before its inauguration. At the time, Uttar Pradesh minister Dinesh Pratap Singh responded to criticism by saying, "Build your own road," before adding that roads break during construction and there was "nothing new" about it. The 63-kilometre, si lane Lucknow-Kanpur Expressway features India's second-longest elevated corridor. It is also the country's first expressway built using automated and intelligent machine-guided construction technology. The expressway includes AI-based speed enforcement systems, emergency call boxes every two kilometres, and two integrated 247 control rooms.
It has been designed for speeds of up to 120 kmph and has reduced travel time between Lucknow and Kanpur to 35-45 minutes. The toll for cars has been fixed at 275, while two-wheelers are not permitted on the expressway. Ends
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