As part of an endeavour to ensure traffic snarl-free Delhi, the country’s first smart and green highway — Eastern Peripheral Expressway—is likely to be completed by this August, with an overall estimated cost of Rs.11,000 crore.

 

The 135 km six-lane expressway will stretch from Kondli – Ghaziabad – Palwal.

 

“The project, most likely, will be completed in August this year. We have spent a huge Rs 5,900 crore on land acquisition. Once completed, this will reduce traffic congestion in Delhi and have the best automatic traffic management system, landscaping, besides wayside amenities. We’re planting at least 2.5 lakh trees and the expressway will be lit by solar panels,” Minister of Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari, who recently did an aerial survey of the ongoing construction work, said in an official statement.

The Peripheral Expressway Project comprises two expressways  – Western Peripheral Expressway (WPE) and Eastern Peripheral Expressway (EPE), connecting NH-1 and NH-2 from Western and Eastern side of Delhi.

 

The EPE and WPE constitute a combined project forming a Ring Road around Delhi with a total length of 270 km. About 183 km passes through Haryana whereas the remaining, about 87 km, passes through Uttar Pradesh.

 

 

Once complete, the two expressways together will allow a bypass for traffic, which is not meant for Delhi and headed towards the neighbouring states of Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Haryana, Punjab, Jammu and Kashmir. This will not only decongest the national capital city but also cut down pollution by almost 50 percent.

 

The Expressway is planned to be equipped with the latest, world class smart technology and road safety features like intelligent highway traffic management system, video incident detection system and a closed tolling system, where the toll will be charged on the distance travelled.

 

The Union Minister also said the EPE would be the country’s first Green Highway, with landscaping, plantation with nearly 2.5 lakh trees and it would be fully lit by solar energy. There would be facilities for rainwater harvesting at short distances. The highway would also have roadside amenities like petrol pumps, motels, restaurants etc.

 

The Expressway will greatly benefit farmers, traders and the people of the NCR region and neighbouring states of Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, as a whole by providing a better road connectivity in the region.

 

The projects will give a major boost to the transport infrastructure of the region, making it speedier, more efficient and less polluting, which in turn, will give a boost to the economy as a whole.

 

The projects will create both direct and indirect jobs. The construction work of EPE has generated 40 lakh mandays of employment. 2,100 engineers and 5,200 workers are employed daily.

 

Besides, the local population would be involved in creating and maintaining the green belt. The roadside amenities will provide markets for local produce.