A team of officials led by CEO UPEIDA Avnish Awasthi carried out inspection of Agra-lucknow Expressway and collected samples from different sections to verify whether construction of the road matches standards as prescribed in the rule book.
Officials of central government agencies RITES were also part of this team which collected samples from different areas. “This is a preliminary inspection of Agra-lucknow Express. Samples have been collected and RITES has been asked to do detailed survey. The detailed inspection will be carried out within a fortnight,” Awasthi told The Pioneer on Sunday. The 302 km long Agra-lucknow Greenfield Expressway had become a big political issue during election campaign with former Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav showcasing it as a major achievement of his government while the BJP leaders had called this expressway as “expressway of corruption.”
Deputy Chief Minister and PWD Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya had said that BJP Government will probe into all constructions carried out during SP regime. Yogi government had already ordered probe into purchase of land used for construction of Agra-lucknow Expressway and an FIR has been lodged in Firozabad. This was the first time an inspection has been carried out to check construction quality.
Awasthi said that inspection has been divided into five zones. Samples have been collected from all these zones for preliminary inspection. A detailed inspection will be carried out by RITES later.
Sources say that road has been dug out at several places to know the width of the crust of the road. At four zones it was found more than the prescribed limit while in one zone the crust was within permissible limit. “RITES have been asked to carry out inspection at every two kms to assess the exact construction quality of the road,” Awasthi said.