Construction of Rs 5,763-cr Eastern Expressway begins

Bijendra Ahlawat

Tribune News Service

Palwal, February 10

The construction work of the Rs 5,763-cr Eastern Peripheral Expressway has started in the district. Around 436.76 acres had been acquired in 15 villages of the district and the construction work of the expressway had already starting, said Deputy Commissioner Ashok Kumar Sharma.

“An amount of Rs 120 crore has already been paid to the farmers in the district,” said Kulbir Singh Dhaka, District Revenue Officer (DRO).

The average compensation per acre was about Rs 62 lakh and the total amount was expected to be around Rs 550 crore, he said, adding a total of 873 acres had been acquired in Palwal and Faridabad districts.

The Prime Minister had laid the foundation stone of the 135-km-long Eastern Peripheral Expressway in November last year and the government had set a deadline of 400 days to complete the project.

The project will connect Palwal with Sonepat via Ghaziabad in Uttar Pradesh. This is one of the two expressways proposed by the Union government to decongest the National Capital by providing bypass to the vehicles not destined for Delhi.

The construction work of the 136-km-long and Rs 2,274 crore Western Peripheral Expressway, also known as Kundli –Manesar—Palwal (KMP) Expressway, had already started.

Two companies — Oriental Construction and Gayatri Construction — have been awarded the contract for a total of 35.5 km of the expressway that falls in Faridabad and Palwal districts.

The Additional Deputy Commissioner-cum-Arbitrator had enhanced the compensation to Rs 62 lakh per acre in September last year, but the demand for such an enhancement in Faridabad district had been pending since the notification of the land acquisition was issued.

The decision to enhance the compensation for 437.3 acres acquired in nine villages of Faridabad district was in the final stage, said the District Revenue Officer.