Agra-Lucknow Expressway was thrown open to public today with fighter jets of the Indian Air Force touching down on it after Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav inaugurated what is now India's longest expressway.



Air Marshal S B P Sinha Air Officer Commanding in Chief Central Air Command was present at the venue to oversee the operations. A number of military and civil officials witnessed this unique feat by our Air Warriors.



THE FIGHTER JET SHOW



03Mirage-2000 and 03SU-30 aircrafts of the Indian Air Force carried out a 'touch and go' on a portion of the newly constructed Agra-Lucknow Expressway.

The portion of the Expressway used for the purpose has an RCC construction and has been reinforced and appropriately marked to facilitate aircraft landings. The portion of the Expressway used for today's operations is located at Ganj Moradabad in Unnao District of UP.

The aim of the exercise was to check feasibility of Expressways being used as alternate airstrips in case of dire emergencies or non availability of runway for any reason.

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The entire operation began with the first 3 Mirages coming overhead at around 1 pm and culminated with a touch and go by the final SU-30 fighter jet around 1.30 pm.



#WATCH Unnao: IAF Mirage 2000 jets touch down on Agra-Lucknow expressway pic.twitter.com/xiZtjzZzHy ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) November 21, 2016

Former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister and now Rajya Sabha MP Mayawati alleged that the ruling Samajwadi Party threw an under-prepared expressway open to general public.

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BSP chief Mayawati said, "As the chief minister of UP, I began the construction of Agra-Lucknow Expressway. At the time of the last assembly elections, I was advised to inaugurate it and throw it open for public use. But, I rejected the suggestion as it would have put people's life at risk.""The Agra-Lucknow Expressway is still not complete but the incumbent CM is inaugurating it with the hope of reaping electoral benefits," Mayawati said.

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Along with SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav, UP CM Akhilesh Yadav inaugurated the 6-lane Greenfield Agra-Lucknow Expressway at Bangarmau in Unnao district of Uttar Pradesh.

Issuing a statement earlier, the state government said, "302-km six-lane Expressway expandable to 8-lane would start from Agra to reach Lucknow via Firozabad, Mainpuri, Etawah, Oraia, Kannauj, Hardoi,Kanpur Nagar and Unnao."

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The Agra-Lucknow Expressway is expected to reduce the travel time between two cities to three and half hours. It will further reduce the journey time between Lucknow and Delhi by almost half to 5-6 hours.