Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday inaugurated the 83.3-km Kundli-manesar section of the ambitious Western Peripheral Expressway, also called KMP Expressway, remotely from Sultanpur village. The highway, Modi said, would not only transform the entire region economically but also boost connectivity across Delhincr. Modi, however, attributed the delay in the completion of this project to the previous government.
The KMP expressway was conceived in 2003 by the Environment Pollution Control Authority (EPCA) and the project came into being in 2006, but was delayed and remained incomplete due to delay in land acquisition and inability of the contractor to close the project financially, among other reasons. In August 2016, the Haryana government gave the contract to another company with the mandate to finish it by February 2019. It is now, after 12 years, that the entire KMP Expressway has been opened for use. The first phase between Manesar and Palwal was made operational in 2016.
Emphasising on the importance of the KMP Expressway, Modi said, “The KMP expressway will reduce the number of vehicles entering Delhi as external traffic need not enter the national capital. This road also means that a 270-km network has become operational around Delhi. Improved connectivity is related to economic growth and development. In the last four years, our government has built 33,000-km length of highways across the nation,” Modi said, adding that this could be accomplished because there was a strong will to deliver.
The expressway is expected to cut commercial traffic entering the National Capital Region, including New Delhi, by almost 30% and thus, reduce air pollution and vehicular congestion.
According to experts, heavy vehicles, such as trucks, which run on diesel, are a major source of air pollution and it was due to this reason that the EPCA had recommended a peripheral road around Delhi so commercial traffic could be redirected.
The KMP Expressway joins the Eastern Peripheral Expressway, also called Kundli-ghaziabad-palwal Expressway (opened in May 2018), at Kundli on one side and at Palwal on the other side. These two highways, together, now provide an express ring road encircling Delhi. Interstate vehicles can now take these roads to go to neighbouring states and beyond without entering Delhi.
Taking a dig at the previous government, Modi said the completion of the road shows the difference between the work cultures of his government and that of the previous government.
“The expressway, which should have been completed eight to nine years ago, remained stuck because of the delaying tactics of the previous government. It suffered the same fate as the Commonwealth Games. It was only after the project was reviewed by us and urgency was shown by the state government that this project could be complete,” he asserted.
Without naming any party, the Prime Minister further said, “Atkane aur latkane wali sanskriti (the culture of keeping things in a limbo)” has made the people of Haryana and Delhincr suffer a lot.
Modi, who flew to Sultanpur in a chopper around 12pm, also flagged off the Mujesar-ballabhgarh Metro link and remotely laid the foundation of the Shri Vishawkarma Skill University in Palwal.
He also paid tribute to martyrs of Rezangla War, a majority of whom were from the state. He said that Haryana epitomized “Himmat, Haunsla, Hosh and Hamsafar (bravery, courage, alertness and brotherhood)” earning a resounding applause from the crowd, which, according to a police personnel on duty, was 30,000 to 35,000-strong.
The attack, which Haryana chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar described as the start of the political campaign for 2019 general elections, did not go down well with the Congress party. The party alleged that BJP governments in the Centre and the state were throwing open an incomplete road due to ensuing elections. “This rally should be considered as the start of political campaign for 2019 election. We are confident to win 10 out of 10 parliamentary seats in the state,” Khattar said.
Haryana governor Satyadev Narayan Arya, Union minister Ch Birender Singh, Union minister and Gurugram MP Rao Inderjit Singh, state finance minister captain Abhimanyu, PWD minister Narbir Singh and BJP state president Subash Barala shared the stage with Prime Minister.
Major relief from congestion, pollution
With the opening of the KMP Expressway, traffic congestion would reduce in the national capital region. Along with the Eastern Peripheral Expressway, it is expected to divert more than 50,000 heavy vehicles away from Delhi not destined for the national capital
The Kundli-manesar-palwal (KMP) Expressway, also known as Western Peripheral Expressway, finally became fully operational on Monday when Prime Minister Narenda Modi inaugurated
84-km stretch of the e-way. It was built at a cost of over ~9,000 crore
■ The 135-km Eastern Peripheral Expressway, built at a cost of ~11,000 crore, was inaugurated in May this year
■ Together, the two expressways are expected to divert more than 50,000 heavy vehicles away from Delhi as vehicles going from north India to the western and southern parts of the country would be able to do so without passing through the national capital
■ The Eastern and the Western Peripheral
Expressways were planned in 2006 following the apex court’s order to build a ring road outside Delhi for channelling the traffic not bound for the national capital
■ The fully access controlled six-lane EPE provides entry and exit designated interchanges only and has
406 structures, of which four are major bridges, 46 minor bridges, three flyovers, seven interchanges, 221 underpasses and eight road-over bridges (ROBS)
■ The WPE’S Manesar-palwal section has 32 agricultural underpasses, three intersections and four toll plazas. The Kundli-manesar stretch has six box culverts,
58 pipe culverts, eight minor bridges, six major bridges, four road-over bridges, 35 underpasses, 21 vehicular underpasses, among others
Source : HT
