Rs 1,500-cr Gomti riverfront project inaugurated in UP

Lucknow: Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav on Wednesday inaugurated the Rs 1,500-crore Gomti riverfront development project and Gaus Mohammad Stadium in the state capital Lucknow.

He congratulated officials and engineers of the Irrigation Department for completing it within two years.

The project, he added, incorporated water transport that linked the old city to new Lucknow. 

The stadium for cricket and football is named after ace lawn tennis player Gaus Mohammad, the first Indian to make it to the quarter-finals of Wimbledon championship. 

Under this project, a diaphragm wall has been made on both banks of the Gomti river to channel its waterflow. The land between the waterway and the embankment has been developed for public use, like tracks for cycling, jogging and walking, apart from play area for children. 

Public conveniences like toilets and potable water taps and parking spaces have been provided at every 500 metres.

Commuting on the waterway will be through a water bus, which will start plying from next month. 

A lake too has been developed along with installation of a musical fountain, an area reserved for doing yoga, a ground for weddings, and an amphitheatre with a seating capacity of 2,000. 

Under the project, the Hardinge Bridge, Gomti barrage and Lohia Bridge have been illuminated with RGB lights, besides coloured lights at the Gandhi Bridge.