Ghaziabad: Water pipelines in way of Delhi-Meerut e-way to be shifted soon

The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) this week will sign a memorandum of understating (MoU) with a consultant for shifting and laying of new Ganga water pipelines under the second phase of Delhi-Meerut Expressway (DME) project.

The water pipelines are a major obstacle for widening the NH-24, which is required for the second phase of the project that starts from UP Gate on NH-24 and ends at Dasna.

A 13-kilometre network of the pipelines runs from the Upper Ganga Canal (near Dasna) to Pratap Vihar treatment plants, from where treated Ganga water is supplied to Noida and Ghaziabad.

The pipelines run adjacent to the highway, which is now being widening under the DME project.

“The estimate for shifting and laying of new pipelines is nearly Rs156 crore — Rs98 crore for new pipelines and Rs58 crore for shifting the six-kilometre pipeline out of the way of the DME project. A MoU with a consultant will be signed within this week and the work for the pipelines will be done in six months. This work will be carried out alongside the second phase widening work of DME,” RP Singh, project director, NHAI, said.

Officials said the total funds to be spent on shifting and laying new pipelines will be shared among NHAI and different UP agencies.

The second phase of the DME project is from UP Gate to Dasna over a stretch of 19.28km and is being constructed at a cost of nearly Rs1,989 crore. Officials said the work has been started and 12% of the work is currently completed.

The first phase of the DME project — from Akshardham to UP Gate — is likely to be inaugurated by the Prime Minister on April 15. With the opening of the first phase, commuters travelling from Ghaziabad to UP Gate through the newly opened Hindon elevated road will get a seamless and signal-free connectivity up to Akshardham in Delhi.

The same day, the PM is also likely to inaugurate the Eastern Peripheral Road, which will act as a bypass for vehicles out of Delhi limits.

NHAI officials are optimistic they will be in a position to complete the second phase work well ahead of the scheduled deadline.

“The scheduled completion for the second phase project is 30 months but we expect it to be completed within 18 months. The original deadline is May 2020 but we are likely to finish it by March 2019,” Singh said.

Under the project, the existing four-lane highway is being widened to a total of 14 lanes, with seven lanes each side. The lanes will include highway and expressway lanes for commuters.