‘15 projects in pipeline to decongest Delhi roads’

Western and Eastern Peripheral Expressways have diverted one lakh vehicles from the city, says Gadkari

Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari on Thursday said his Ministry has been working on 15 projects worth ₹53,000 crore to reduce traffic congestion and pollution in Delhi.

He was speaking at a function at Lohtaki village here as part of his two-day site visit and inspection of the 1,380-km-long under-construction Delhi-Mumbai Expressway across different States.

Mr. Gadkari said work was already in progress on 14 projects and a meeting was scheduled with Delhi Lieutenant-Governor Anil Baijal and Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in a week’s time to discuss another project.

The Minister said that the construction of the Western and Eastern Peripheral Expressways had diverted at least one lakh non-destined vehicles from Delhi roads, providing a huge relief from traffic congestion and pollution. “Earlier, around 5.5 lakh vehicles, including 70% commercial ones, from neighbouring States travelled through Delhi. But now almost one lakh vehicles take the peripheral expressways,” said Mr. Gadkari.

He said a six-lane road from DND Expressway to Delhi-Mumbai Expressway passing through Faridabad would help reduce traffic congestion at Ashram Chowk, Badarpur, Faridabad and Ballabgarh. The Delhi-Mumbai Expressway would reduce travel time between the two cities to just 12 hours. The expressway passes through six States — Delhi, Haryana, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and Maharashtra — and will improve the connectivity to economic hubs like Jaipur, Kishangarh, Ajmer, Kota, Chittorgarh, Udaipur, Bhopal, Ujjain, Indore, Ahmedabad, Vadodara and Surat, said the Minister. The Jewar airport in U.P. and the Jawaharlal Nehru Port in Maharashtra are also connected to the expressway through spurs.

The Minister said the Delhi-Meerut Expressway would be inaugurated in a month’s time, reducing the travel time between the two cities to just 40 minutes from four hours earlier. He added that the widening of the Delhi-Panipat road would be completed by the year-end at the cost of ₹2,250 crore and work on another Ring Road in Delhi would commence this month.