Mohansarai-Cantt 'Gateway of Kashi' road widened to six lanes, nearly ready to open

VARANASI: The Mohansarai-Cantt road, the western entry to Varanasi, has been rebuilt as a six-lane model road called the 'Gateway of Kashi' and is nearly ready for its formal opening, local reports said on 13 November.

Vehicles coming from Prayagraj, Mirzapur, Sonbhadra and Chandauli on the Golden Quadrilateral highway enter the city at Mohansarai. Markets and housing colonies along the stretch had made it a regular bottleneck. The reports put the drive from Mohansarai to Cantt at 15 to 20 minutes on the widened road, against about 45 minutes earlier, which matters to pilgrims heading for the railway station area as much as to daily commuters.

What has been built: the corridor is 13 km long. The 10 km from Mohansarai to Lahartara is six-lane, with a two-lane service road on each side, giving 10 lanes in all; the remaining 3 km from Lahartara to Cantt is four-lane. The project cost is Rs 416.88 crore. Both sides have covered drains, ducts for power and other cables, and five-foot-wide footpaths, with planting on the dividers.

The road is styled on Kashi's religious identity. Street lights carry damru, trishul, shankh and Om motifs. At Mohansarai, an entry gate as wide as the six-lane carriageway is being finished, and a large conch is still to be placed on top. A triangular island in front of it has pillars fitted with carved bells.

No date for the formal opening has been announced in the reports.

Details are from reports in Dainik Jagran and Janwarta of 13 November.