Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate the 340.8 km-long, much-awaited Purvanchal Expressway on November 16. With the inauguration, the fighter aircraft of the Indian Air Force will showcase the military might through an air show. A rehearsal of the fighter aircraft Rafale has been scheduled on the Lucknow-Ghazipur expressway on November 14 and 15.

A 3.2 km-long runway has been built near Kurebhar village in Sultanpur on the expressway. The Uttar Pradesh Expressways Industrial Development Authority (UPEIDA) Chairman, Avnish Awasthi confirmed it and said that the process of preparing the airstrip has been completed. About 30 fighter aircrafts will fly from the five major air bases for landing on the expressway airstrip.

According to defense sources, on November 16, in the presence of PM Narendra Modi, aircraft like Sukhoi-30 MKI, C-130J Super Hercules of the Air Force will land on the Purvanchal Expressway. During the ‘Touch and Go’ operation on the expressway, many Sukhoi and Rafale fighter aircraft will take off as soon as they land.

The final preparations are being made on a war footing to ensure that the fighter plane does not face any kind of obstacle in landing and taking off. It has also been inspected many times by senior officials of the Air Force. Borders of 15 meters each have been made on both sides of the strip. Vehicles coming on the runway for cleaning have also been completely banned, while the painting work of the indicator on the air strip has been completed. And a staircase has been made to come down from the airstrip to the platform below.

Service lanes are being built on both sides of the strip. After getting the green signal from the PMO to inaugurate the expressway on behalf of the Prime Minister, the administration along with UPEDA is busy in final preparations. The 354 km long Purvanchal Expressway is currently being built between Ghazipur and Lucknow, but Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has given instructions to extend it till Ballia.