The Varanasi district administration fast-tracked the Varuna Elevated Corridor and Ganga Elevated Corridor and immediately banned land registrations in 53 identified villages and parcels within the proposed alignments.

The four-lane Varuna Link Elevated Connector Corridor, to be built by the National Highways Authority of India, will run 21.153 km alongside the Varuna River, linking National Highway-31 to the Varanasi Ring Road through 41 villages in Sadar and Pindra tehsils.

The six-lane Ganga Elevated Road will run 2.5 km from the left end of Vishwa Sundari Bridge to Samne Ghat Bridge, then about 6 km towards Ramnagar to Namo Ghat, and connect to the Ring Road’s Ganga Bridge. It will bypass central Varanasi for traffic from Chandauli, Mirzapur, Ghazipur and Bihar, and include three pedestrian suspension bridges.

The ban also covers land sales and purchases, speculative agreements, gift deeds, land-use changes and allocation of government land.

Varanasi Nagar Nigam’s executive committee gave in-principle, conditional consent to allocate two acres at Samne Ghat (Arazi No. 316/25) to the Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) for a cruise terminal. IWAI must pay rent based on the prevailing district magistrate circle rate or allocate one full floor of the terminal building to VNN. The terminal is expected to boost Ganges tourism, ease congestion at the main ghats and create opportunities for local artisans and small traders.

VNN has begun surveying service settlements, including Kanshiram Housing Complex in Shivpur, to improve electricity, roads, drainage and drinking water by September or October. A boundary wall and cowshed will be built behind the existing Aidhe facility for ₹67 lakh. Approved infrastructure works include a Nadesar railway-line drainage channel, watchman’s cabin, restrooms and interlocking pavers for ₹98.59 lakh; Cantonment cabin, restrooms, submersible pump and drainage for ₹44.96 lakh; and parking, offices and workshop shed at Parade Kothi for approximately ₹1.52 crore.

The 46-km Ganga Elevated Corridor will connect NH-19 with Varanasi Ring Road (NH-135B), with construction expected to take about five years from its start. Planned by the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, it will be developed under the Hybrid Annuity Model. The overview lists civil costs of ₹6,037.85 crore and land costs of ₹541.11 crore; it also cites a ₹10,998.32 crore, 43.218-km Varuna River Elevated Corridor and a dedicated elevated spur between BHU/Lanka and Samne Ghat.

Travel from NH-19 to the Ring Road is expected to fall from 60 to 20 minutes, and travel to Kashi Railway Station from about 50 to 25 minutes. Together with the Varuna corridor, it is estimated to cut congestion on Varanasi’s existing roads by up to 40%.

Structures include a 910-metre cable-stayed bridge over the Ganga, a 1.32-km extradosed foot-over-bridge-cum-major bridge with travelators towards Kashi Vishwanath Temple, and a rail overbridge crossing the existing and proposed Malviya Bridge. The project also includes loops, ramps, service roads, emergency parking bays, noise barriers and architectural lighting, and is planned under the PM Gati Shakti National Master Plan.

It will improve access to Lal Bahadur Shastri International Airport, railway stations, Pt. Deen Dayal Upadhyay Junction, the Ramnagar IWAI Port, tourist destinations and religious sites. Stronger property demand and investor interest are anticipated around NH-19, the Ring Road, Ramnagar, Samne Ghat, Lanka and peripheral areas.