Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit his Lok Sabha constituency of Varanasi on November 12 and inaugurate two important national highways, having a total length of 34 kilometres and constructed at a cost of Rs 1,571.95 crore. Modi will also receive a container vessel in Varanasi on the river Ganga in a first for the country’s inland water transport since Independence.

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 Babatpur-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.

Union Minister Nitin Gadkari said on Sunday that Prime Minister Modi on November 12 will receive a container vessel in Varanasi on the river Ganga. In the maiden container since Independence on inland vessel MV RN Tagore, food and beverages major PepsiCo is moving its 16 containers from Kolkata to Varanasi. The cargo containers will reach Varanasi on November 12.

“Inland waterways transport in India is set for a revolution and the massive work done on waterways has started showing impact,” Union shipping and Ganga rejuvenation minister Gadkari told PTI.

He said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi will receive the container vessel travelled for the first time on inland waterways - NW 1 on the Ganga at Varanasi on November 12 at the newly developed multi-modal terminal and shall dedicate the terminal to the nation.

Gadkari said this is the country’s first container movement on inland vessel post-Independence and a milestone moment in the history of India’s inland waterways transport sector.

PepsiCo (India) has moved 16 containers -- equivalent to 16 truckloads -- filled with food and snacks in the vessel MV RN Tagore which will make its return journey with fertilisers belonging to IFFCO that will be procured from its Phulpur plant near Allahabad.

The PepsiCo cargo will be the first container movement on inland waterways in the country.