To beat SC deadline, Modi to open ‘incomplete’ e-way

Pradeep Sharma

Tribune News Service

Sonepat/Ghaziabad, May 24

To beat the May 31 deadline set by the Supreme Court, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to inaugurate the “incomplete” Kundli-Ghaziabad-Palwal (KGP) Expressway (Eastern Peripheral Expressway) on May 27.

Some civil works are yet to be completed, while a major rail overbridge (RoB) on the Haryana-Uttar Pradesh border is unlikely to be completed before the inauguration.

The Prime Minister will throw open the expressway at a rally scheduled at Baghpat.

In the adjoining Kairana in western Uttar Pradesh, the BJP is locked in a tough contest with the Samajwadi Party-Rashtriya Lok Dal (SP-RLD) alliance in the Lok Sabha byelection on May 28.

A visit to the expressway on Wednesday showed that the work is still in progress at the crucial RoB with men and machines working overtime to complete it before May 27.

Workers at the site told The Tribune the construction of the RoB would take at least a week to complete. “Till then, only half portion from the UP side can be used for commuting, defeating the purpose of the expressway,” a supervisor said.

The signal-free KGP will connect Ghaziabad, Faridabad, Gautam Budh Nagar (Greater Noida) and Palwal.

The inauguration of the KGP, which was slated for April 29, was put off when the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) reportedly pointed to the non-completion of civil and beautification works. Certain reports claimed that the KGP could not be inaugurated because the Prime Minister was “unavailable”.

On May 10, the Supreme Court had directed the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) to open the 135-km expressway to the public before month-end even without inauguration by PM Modi.

The two expressways — the Eastern Peripheral Expressway and Western Peripheral Expressway popularly known as Kundli-Manesar-Palwal (KMP) Expressway — are dubbed as the first smart and green highway in India with an intelligent Highway Traffic Management System (HTMS), Video Incident Detection System (VIDS), electrified by solar panels and faster Electronic Toll Collection (ETC) system.

The KGP bypasses Delhi on the eastern side, while the KMP outlines its western border. The entire peripheral project would form a ring road around Delhi with a total length of 270 km, out of which 183 km passes through Haryana and the rest through Uttar Pradesh.