The Government of India has approved the construction of a new 9.9km-long six-lane bridge project at Allahabad in the state of Uttar Pradesh.

The Rs19.48bn ($290.3m) project will be built across river Ganga on NH-96 at Phaphamau. It was approved by the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs.

Scheduled to be completed by December 2021, the new bridge will ease traffic congestion on the existing two-lane Phaphamau bridge, as well as ensuring swift and safe movement for traffic in the region.

“Currently, all inbound road traffic from NH-96, NH-24B, Asian Highway-1 and other local highways uses the old two-lane bridge at Phaphamau.”

It will also support traffic travelling towards Lucknow and Faizabad coming from the state of Madhya Pradesh through NH-27 and NH-76.

Furthermore, the bridge is expected to enable Allahabad to support pilgrimage tourism in the city.

Currently, all inbound road traffic from NH-96, NH-24B, Asian Highway-1 and other local highways uses the old two-lane bridge at Phaphamau.

This old bridge has been supporting nearly 40,000 passenger car units (PCUs), which is much higher than its original capacity of 15,000 PCUs.

The government stated that there were 13 bridges on river Ganges between Allahabad and Farakka up to May 2014, following which, an additional 20 bridges were planned to be constructed.

Five out of these 20 bridges are already open, while seven others are currently under construction.

Furthermore, construction work on Farakka, Sahebganj and Mokarnah bridges is expected to start soon.