Lucknow: The Lucknow-Kanpur Expressway drew fresh attention on Thursday after photographs showing pedestal fans placed along a repair site went viral on social media. The images, circulated widely through the day, showed around a dozen fans positioned near a damaged stretch on the Unnao-to-Lucknow-bound carriageway, where repair work has been slowed by intermittent rain.According to sources, staff engaged by PNC Infratech, the contractor handling the maintenance, deployed 10 pedestal fans on Wednesday morning to speed up drying at the 300-metre patch under restoration. The section required filling of the sub-base course along with binding material before the surface could be treated with bitumen and asphalt. Persistent wet conditions have delayed the process, and fresh cracks have reportedly begun appearing around the repaired area.The bottleneck has affected traffic flow on the high-speed corridor, which was opened to the public on July 13. With diversions in place due to the ongoing work, vehicles travelling both from Lucknow to Unnao and from Unnao to Lucknow have been using the same carriageway for roughly 6 km, worsening congestion and slowing movement during peak hours.Officials said the contractor was working under pressure after National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) set a deadline of Friday morning to restore the stretch for normal vehicular movement. Amid the delays, NHAI initiated proceedings to declare PNC Infratech a non-performing company and also imposed a penalty. NHAI has directed the company to repair the entire affected stretch at its own cost and has exempted expressway users from paying fees during the disruption.Even after the fans were removed, online discussion continued, with users sharing additional videos and photos taken at the site. Sources said the fans were initially brought in to dry construction material and were later positioned along the repair area because they were already available on location. Officials added that tarpaulin sheets, air-drying machines and high-intensity pavement cleaning equipment have also remained deployed at the site for the past five to six days.
