At the Eastern Peripheral Expressway, Saturday. (Express photo/Gajendra Yadav)
The first phase of the Delhi-Meerut Expressway, along with the much-awaited Eastern Peripheral Expressway (EPE), will be inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi Sunday.
Before he inaugurates the 135-kilometre EPE, Modi will do a roadshow from Nizamuddin Bridge and travel 6 km on the stretch, of which 9 km is ready.
He will, according to Delhi BJP leaders, then fly to Baghpat to inaugurate the EPE. In Delhi, he is expected to inaugurate an exhibition on the project, along with a 3D model, before he goes to Baghpat. Taking into account the large number of trucks entering Delhi whose destination is not the city, the Supreme Court, in 2006, had ordered that roads bypassing Delhi be built to reduce congestion and resultant air pollution.
The EPE will connect Kundli with Palwal via Sonepat, Baghpat, Ghaziabad, Noida, Faridabad. The western peripheral expressway, or the Kundli-Manesar-Palwal (KMP) Expressway, does the same but via Manesar. Trucks that are headed to UP or beyond will be able to use EPE and avoid entering Delhi altogether.
The KMP Expressway, NHAI officials said, will also be complete within a few months.
On May 10, the Supreme Court had expressed displeasure over the delay in inaugurating the stretch and asked NHAI to open it by May 31 — failing which, it said, the road would stand open to the public from June 1.
Work on the project was stalled for almost a year over land acquisition protests and negotiations.
The Delhi-Meerut Expressway
Work on this stretch, officials said, was completed within 17 months instead of the 30 that were set aside for it. The commute time between Delhi and Meerut is expected to drop to 45 minutes from the 2.5 hours now.