Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday inaugurated the 135 km-long Eastern Peripheral Expressway (EPE), which will channel away traffic not destined for Delhi and reduce vehicular pollution in the national capital.
The expressway will be thrown open to the public from Sunday midnight. It is estimated that it will divert 50,000 vehicles.
The six-lane expressway cost ₹ 11,000 crore, and will connect Kundli with Palwal in Haryana via Ghaziabad and Greater Noida in Uttar Pradesh.
Delhi encircled
The EPE is part of a project that also includes a Western Peripheral Expressway (WPE), and the two together form a circle around Delhi. The construction of the WPE is expected to conclude next month.
The project was conceived after a Supreme Court order in 2005 asked the Centre to build a peripheral expressway around Delhi by July 2016 to de-congest and de-pollute the national capital.
During a public rally at Baghpat, the PM recounted the achievements of his government in developing infrastructure in the country.
“Development of infrastructure plays very important role in raising the standard of living of the people of this country… Highways, railways, airways, waterways, I-ways as well as electricity-related infrastructure are focus areas of this government. We have spent ₹ 3 lakh crore for the construction of 28,000 km of new highways,” the PM said.
While the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government built 12 km of roads per day, our government has built 27 km of highways per day, said the PM.
He added that 10 crore people had travelled by air last year, more than those who travelled in air-conditioned compartments of trains, and that the government planned to develop 100 waterways.
Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari said the expressway will reduce 27% pollution and ease 41% traffic jam in Delhi, the Press Trust of India reported.
Closed tolling system
The EPE has been completed in 500 days, ahead of a target of 910 days. Access to the expressway is controlled by toll gates at all entries and exits.
The EPE has a closed tolling system, where toll will be collected only for the distance travelled. There are also weigh-in-motion machines installed at all 30 entry points to stop the entry of overloaded vehicles. Amenities for users include petrol pumps, motels, wash rooms, restaurants, shops and repair services.
The PM also unveiled the first phase of the 82 km-long Delhi-Meerut Expressway. This 14-lane stretch extends 8 km from Nizammudin bridge to the Uttar Pradesh border, and includes service lanes and a 2.5 metre wide cycle track on either side.
