Section of Agra-Lucknow Expressway Caves In, Car Falls More Than 15 Feet

New Delhi: A section of the Agra-Lucknow expressway caved in on August 1, leading to a car falling more than 15 feet. The occupants of the car escaped with minor injuries. According to officials, the ‘sinkhole’ near Wazipur, about 40 km from Agra, developed due to the heavy rain that most of northern India has seen over the last week.

The station house officer of the concerned police station told Times of India, “We have pulled out the car from the sinkhole with the help of a crane. It seems that heavy downpour flushed away the soil beneath the service lane.”

The Uttar Pradesh state government has now ordered a probe. “A third-party probe has been ordered into the caving-in of the side road of the expressway (16 km from Agra towards Lucknow) by RITES Limited. The construction of the damaged road will be done by the construction agency at its cost," Uttar Pradesh Expressway Industrial Development Authority chairman Avanish Awasthi said.

The Agra-Lucknow expressway is a 302-km tolled road connecting Agra and Lucknow. It was inaugurated in 2016 by the then chief minister of Uttar Pradesh, Akhilesh Yadav, who claimed credit for it. In the past, Airforce aircrafts, including the fighter Sukhoi Su- 30 and the transport aircraft C-130j Hercules, have landed on the expressway and performed manoeuvres.

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