New Delhi [India], Nov 7 (ANI): Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate two important national highways in Varanasi on November 12, having a total length of 34 kilometres and constructed at a cost of Rs 1,571.95 crore.

The 16.55 km Varanasi Ring Road Phase-I has been completed at a cost of Rs 759.36 crore, while the work of four-laning and construction of 17.25 km Babatput-Varanasi road on NH-56 has cost Rs 812.59 crore. The roads have been constructed by the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) under Bharatmala programme.

The Babatpur Airport highway will link Varanasi to the airport and go on to Jaunpur, Sultanpur and Lucknow. With a flyover at Harhua and a Road Over Bridge at Tarna, the road will reduce the travel time from Varanasi to the airport. This will prove a big relief to the people of Varanasi and to tourists and other visitors to the city.

The Ring Road, with two Road Over Bridges and a flyover, will provide a way for traffic on NH 56 (Lucknow-Varanasi), NH 233 ( Azamgarh-Varanasi), NH 29 ( Gorakhpur-Varanasi ) and Ayodhya - Varanasi highways to bypass Varanasi city, thereby reducing traffic congestion in the city. This will reduce travel time, fuel usage and pollution in the area. The Ring Road will provide easier and more convenient access to Sarnath, an important site for Buddhist pilgrimage.

There are currently National Highway projects of total length 2,833 kilometres, costing Rs 63,885 crore underway to link Varanasi to other places in Eastern Uttar Pradesh.

Of these fifteen road projects of 1,143 kilometres length are under various stages of construction. These include Varanasi-Jaunpur, Varanasi - Sultanpur, Sultanpur-Lucknow, Varanasi Ghaghra Bridge, Varanasi-Azamgarh among others. A sum of Rs 3,0227 crore is likely to be spent on these. Besides these, there are seven targeted projects of 235 km costing Rs 8,265 crore. Also, 20 projects are in the Detailed Project Report (DPR) stage for constructing 1,455 km roads at a cost of Rs 25,323 crore. This way, a total of 2,833 km roads costing Rs 63,885 crore are in the pipeline in the Varanasi area.

In a separate event the same day, Prime Minister Modi will also present the country an inland waterways terminal on river Ganga in Varanasi.

This is the first of the four multimodal terminals being constructed on NW-I ( River Ganga) as part of the World Bank-aided Jal Marg Vikas project of the Inland Waterways Authority of India. The other three terminals are under construction at Sahibganj, Haldia, and Gazipur. The project would enable commercial navigation of vessels with a capacity of 1500-2,000 DWT on river Ganga.

The Prime Minister will also receive the country's first container consignment (post independence) to be sent on an on inland waterways vessel. This consignment containing a cargo of the food and beverage company Pepsico set sail from Kolkata in the last week of October. (ANI)

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