Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched an attack on the Congress party during his rally in Baghpat, UP, on 27 May. The rally, which comes a day before the 28 May bypolls in Kairana came after the PM inaugurated the first phase of the Delhi-Meerut expressway and the Eastern Peripheral Expressway.
Addressing the crowd, PM Modi said that the Congress and its allies mock everything that is being done for “development” and the backward classes. He claimed that crime has gone down after the Yogi Adityanath government came to power.
Addressing atrocities against Dalits in the state, the Prime Minister said that the government has made special courts to try these cases. He also said that the Central government is aware of the plight of the sugarcane farmers.
Delhi-Meerut Expressway Unveiled
Earlier in the day, the PM inaugurated the first phase of the Delhi-Meerut Expressway on Sunday, 27 May, following which he rode in an open car, waving at crowds gathered on either sides of the highway.
Road Transport and Shipping Minister Nitin Gadkari also rode in a separate open car alongside Modi.
The roadshow commenced from Nizamuddin bridge, the start of the about 9-km first leg of the Delhi-Meerut Expressway.
The first phase of the Delhi-Meerut Expressway costed Rs 842 crore on building the 9-km stretch of 14-lane highway, according to an advertisement released by the government on the project.
The Delhi-Meerut Expressway, which will have dedicated bicycle tracks on the nearly 28-km stretch between Delhi and Dasna, will cut travel time between Delhi and Meerut from two-and-a-half hours to 45 minutes.
The total length of the project is 82 km, of which the first 27.74 kms will be 14-laned, while the rest will be 6-lane expressway.
The expressway will do away with 31 traffic signals on the Delhi-Meerut road, the busiest highway in the region, and make it signal free.
Former UP CM Akhilesh Yadav, in a statement to ANI, questioned the expressway’s construction, asking how the sugarcane farmers of Uttar Pradesh could expect money from roadshows.
Eastern Peripheral Expressway: India’s ‘First Smart and Green Highway’
The Eastern Peripheral Expressway is being touted as India’s first smart and green highway which has been at a cost of Rs 11,000 crore.
Earlier, addressing the media on Friday, 25 May, Road and Transport Minister, Nitin Gadkari had said that the state-of-the-art road will have auto challans for over-speeding, as cameras will capture speed of vehicles, besides it will have provisions of tolling only for the distance travelled.
The minister said it is equipped with smart and intelligent highway traffic management system (HTMS) and video incident detection system (VIDS) and will set a benchmark in highway construction by being environment-friendly with world-class safety features and smart/interactive infrastructure.
The foundation stone of the greenfield project was laid by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on November 5, 2015.
Gadkari said 2.5 lakh trees have been planted here including transplant of 8-10 year old trees and drip irrigation provision has been done.
It has consumed 11 lakh tonnes of cement, 1 lakh tonnes of steel, 3.6 crore cum earthwork and 1.2 cr cum fly-ash, the minister said adding the project has generated employment opportunities of about 50 lakh man-days and 9,375 manpower was deployed.
The fully access controlled six-lane expressway provides entry and exit designated interchanges only and has 406 structures of which 4 are major bridges, 46 minor bridges, 3 flyovers, 7 inter-changes, 221 underpasses and 8 road over bridges (ROBs).
The amenities include retail fuel outlets, rest rooms, motels, restaurants, shops etc. Some of the monuments replicas pertain to Ashoka Lion, Ashoka Chakra, Konark Temple, Jalianwala Bagh, Gateway of India, Qutab Minar, Char Minar, Lal Quila, Kirti Stambh, India Gate, Hawa Mahal and Gujarat Carving.
The project had earlier faced resistance from farmers over land and other issues which have since been solved by giving higher compensation.
Highway to Help in Traffic Decongestion
The Supreme Court on 10 May had directed the NHAI to throw open the Eastern Peripheral Expressway for the public by 31 May, asking why were they "waiting" for its inauguration by the Prime Minister.
The apex court had said if the 135-km expressway, which envisages signal-free connectivity between Ghaziabad, Faridabad, Gautam Budh Nagar (Greater Noida) and Palwal, is not inaugurated on or before 31 May, it should be thrown open for public who were facing traffic congestion in Delhi.
The Eastern and the Western Peripheral Expressways were planned in 2006 following the apex courts order to build a ring road outside the national capital for channelling the traffic not bound for Delhi.
About the Delhi-Meerut Expressway, the minister said the project, built at a cost of Rs 841 crore has vertical gardens with solar system on the Yamuna Bridge on this expressway.
This is the first bridge in the country/world that have vertical gardens with solar power system and drip irrigation. Beautiful lighting system has also been developed on the major structures, he said.
The minister said a cycle track of 2.5 metre wide has also been constructed on both the sides of this expressway, which also has provision of 1.5 metre footpath on each side for pedestrians.
The first package of the Delhi-Meerut Expressway will provide a major relief to the commuters in Delhi-Noida and starts from Nizamuddin Bridge to UP Border having a 6 lane Expressway & 4+4 lane Highway.
The minister said that on completion of the entire expressway the time to travel from Delhi to Meerut will reduce to 45 minutes from the present about 4-5 hours.
The scheduled time period for the construction of this project was 30 months whereas the project has been completed in 17 months, he said.
(With PTI inputs)
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