PM opens twin expressways in NCR region

Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated two important expressways—the first phase of the 14-lane Delhi-Meerut e-way and the Eastern Peripheral Expressway recently. The Eastern Peripheral Expressway (EPE), which was built at a cost of ₹11,000 crore, aimed at decongesting Delhi’s traffic, while the Delhi-Meerut Expressway will reduce the commuting between the two cities from the current four hours to 45 minutes on completion. The two projects, apart from ensuring hassle free and smooth flow of vehicular traffic, will also have several new features, including solar power, auto-challans for over-speeding, tolling for distance traveled and weigh-in-motion equipment to stop entry of over-loaded vehicles, water harvesting and fountains, among others.

Addressing gathering shortly after the inaugural function at Baghpat in Uttar Pradesh, the PM said that infrastructure is a key priority sector and his government has already spent over ₹3 trillion on national highways alone, besides allocating ₹5 trillion for the Bharatmala project in order to ensure cross country connectivity. All the four modes of transport – highways, railways, airways and inland waterways – are making rapid progress as highway construction has reached 27 km per day as against the 12 km per day recorded during the previous government’s regime, he added.

In his address, transport minister Nitin Gadkari said that the EPE will reduce pollution by 27% and traffic jams by 41% in Delhi. The 14-lane Delhi-Meerut expressway is the first-of-its-kind in the country. The two-project will be a relief for people across Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Uttrakhand, Uttar Pradesh, and Rajasthan. He also informed that the Delhi-Saharanpur Highway will also be built on the EPE pattern and the foundation stone of ₹7,000 crore Dwarka Expressway will be laid shortly.