New Delhi: Giving a major push to road infrastructure in Delhi and its neighbouring Uttar Pradesh and Haryana, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday inaugurated two newly built expressways – Phase 1 of the Delhi-Meerut Expressway (DME) and the Rs 11,000-crore Eastern Peripheral Expressway (EPE), India's first smart and green highway. The move is also expected to cut down the population by one-fourth in and around the national Capital.
In the morning, after inaugurating the 14-lane Delhi-Meerut Expressway spanning Sarai Kale Khan in Delhi to UP Gate, the Prime Minister held a road show on the stretch of the DME before inaugurating the expressway. The road show commenced from Nizamuddin Bridge in the Capital, the start of the approximately 9-km first leg of the Delhi-Meerut Expressway, and after a 6-km travel on the stretch Road Transport and Shipping Minister Nitin Gadkari too rode with him. The Prime Minister then went to Baghpat where he dedicated the Eastern Peripheral Expressway.
Modi, in his adress, said that apart from the Rs 5 lakh crore provision for Bharatmala for highways, a provision of Rs 14 lakh crore was made in the budget to strengthen agriculture related infrastructure. The Delhi-Meerut Expressway, stretching from Nizammudin Bridge to the Delhi-UP border, has been completed in a record time of 18 months. The expressway, which will do away with 31 traffic signals currently on the Delhi-Meerut road, has been described by Modi as "road to freedom from pollution". The 9-km stretch from Delhi's Sarai Kale Khan to UP Gate would help reduce congestion on roads leading to Noida and Ghaziabad. The total length of the project is 82 km, of which the first 27.74 km will be 14 lanes and the rest a 6-lane expressway. The highway is the first national highway in the country with 14 lanes.
The project of Peripheral Expressways around Delhi comprises the Western Peripheral Expressway (WPE) or KMP (Kundli-Manesar-Palwal) and Eastern Peripheral Expressway (EPE) or KGP(Kundli-Ghaziabad-Palwal. The alignment of the EPE starts near Kundli NH-1, traverses to cross the river Yamuna, crosses SH-57 Mawikalan, NH-58 near Duhai, NH-24 near Dasna, NH-91 near Beel Akbarpur, Kasna-Sikandra road near Sirsa, river Yamuna again at village Faizupur Khadar (Haryana), Atali-Chainsa Road (near village Maujpur) and ends at Palwal on NH-2 to join Western PE. A total of 1,700 hectares of land has been acquired for the EPE at a cost of about Rs 5,900 crore. The construction cost of the project is about Rs 4,617.87 crore. The Expressway has four major bridges, 46 minor bridges, three flyovers, seven inter-changes, 221 underpasses, eight ROBs, and 114 culverts.
The EPE has a closed tolling system in which toll will be collected only for the distance travelled and not for the entire length. Toll plazas will be equipped with Electronic Toll Collection (ETC) systems for faster collection and uninterrupted travel experience. Weigh-in-Motion (WIMs) equipment have been installed at all 30 entry points of the Expressway to stop the entry of over-loaded vehicles. The EPE has an iconic toll plaza 170 feet high, with 154 feet wing on either side. It will house the ITS control system of the entire EPE.
This is the first Expressway in the country to use solar power on the entire length of 135 km besides rain water harvesting at every 500 metres' distance and drip irrigation for plants. There are eight solar power plants on this Expressway, with a capacity of 4,000 KW (4 megawatt) for lighting of the underpasses and running solar pumps for watering plants.