Lucknow: The much-hyped 341-km-long Poorvanchal Expressway, the flagship project of the Yogi Adityanath government in Uttar Pradesh, has attracted less than half of the estimated traffic, sources said. Because the toll-collecting agency Prakash Asphaltings and Toll Highways (India) Ltd failed to collect the targeted toll, they quit the contract.
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Sources said that from May 1 to May 26, the agency was able to muster less than Rs 7.5 crore against the target of Rs 17 crore, which has upset the company and forced them to leave the contract. Nevertheless, what are the reasons for less than estimated toll collection. The UP Expressways Industrial Development Authority (UPEIDA) at a board meeting came up with three causes for that. There are three reasons – the non-completion of the Lucknow Outer Ring Road, the incomplete bridge on Ganga at Buxar Bihar, and the high toll for heavy vehicles – which are keeping the traffic away from the expressway.
According to UPEIDA sources, the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has informed that the Lucknow Ring Road and the bridge near Buxar will be ready by December 2022. The UPEIDA is also considering reducing the toll price on heavy vehicles as it is almost 20 per cent more than the toll levied by NHAI on the National Highways.
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Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the Purvanchal Expressway in November last year. The expressway starts from Chaursarai village on the Lucknow-Sultanpur Road (NH-731) and ends at Hydaria village on the National Highway number 31, near the Uttar Pradesh-Bihar
