NHAI speeds up 82-km Delhi-Meerut e-way stretch

National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has fast tracked the remaining three packages of 82-km long Delhi-Meerut expressway (DME) and the stretch is expected to be operational by March 2019, said sources, elaborating that the target is to complete the construction work by the end of this fiscal. Apart from this, NHAI has also decided to complete the fourth stretch in ―record time of 12 months and is trying to set another record by completing the last stretch in 12 months against a target of 18 months. The ₹5,300 crore expressway is being constructed in four phases from Nizamuddin Bridge in south-Delhi to Meerut in Uttar Pradesh to let vehicles from neighboring states bypass the national capital. Vehicles from Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh, and Uttrakhand, not destined for Delhi, shall be able to ply to UP via the 82 km expressway easing traffic situation in the city and reducing pollution. The entire project has six expressways with four highways on each side. Elsewhere in the country, of the 427 projects of NHAI and 311 projects of the ministry and NHIDCL reviewed by transport ministry, 127 projects by the former and 153 projects by latter are to be completed by March next year. All of them are worth more than ₹100 crore and about 100 of the projects are to be completed within the next six months.