Two days ahead of its inauguraton by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Indian Air Force (IAF), on Sunday, 14 November, landed fighter aircrafts Mirage 2000 and Su-30MKI on the 340-km long Purvanchal Expressway as part of its rehearsal for an airshow on Tuesday, 16 November, PTI reported.
PM Modi is scheduled to land at the modified airstrip via the C-130J Super Hercules transport aircraft on Tuesday, 16 November. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh will also land at the same airstrip.
According to official sources, the IAF will carry out more rehearsals at the airstrip before Tuesday and added that 30 fighter planes will showcase their might at the newly-constructed expressway.
During the event, IAF aircrafts Mirage 2000 and Su-30MKI would reportedly make multiple landings and takeoffs, Livemint reported.
'Purvanchal Expressway Would Be Spine of the Economy in UP'
The Purvanchal expressway will connect Uttar Pradesh's capital Lucknow with eastern districts including Mau, Azamgarh, Barabanki besides establishing links with the major cities like Prayagraj and Varanasi. In addition, a 3.3 km stretch has also been developed near the district of Sultanpur to facilitate the emergency landings of fighter aircrafts.
The expressway has been built as a part of the governments' s plan to set up emergency landing facilities for fighter aircrafts across India.
Appreciating the development, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said that the expressway would be a spine of the economy of the state of Uttar Pradesh.
Speaking to a gathering after inspecting the site of the expressway, the UP CM, on Friday, 12 November, said:
"Purvanchal will be completed by this month. Bundelkhand express will be completed by next month. Work on the Gorakhpur expressway is being done on a war footing," he said, as per Hindustan Times.
He also said that work was being done to build the Ganga expressway, adding that a 3.5 km airstrip was also being developed near Sultanpur so planes can make emergency landing there.
(With inputs from PTI, Hindustan Times and Livemint.)
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