File Picture Courtesy : Oneindia
India’s first smart and green highway, the Eastern Peripheral Expressway (EPE), which consumed 5 lakh tonne of cement and 1 lakh tonne of steel, will be inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi this month, Union minister Nitin Gadkari said. The Prime Minister will dedicate to the nation the 135-km six-lane access-controlled expressway, built at a cost of nearly Rs 11,000 crore to decongest the national capital along with the first phase of Delhi-Meerut Expressway.
The EPE is equipped with smart and intelligent highway traffic management system (HTMS) and video incident detection system (VIDS) besides a closed tolling system in which the collections will be made only on the distance travelled and not on the entire length and would be lit with solar lights.
Hon’ble Prime Minister to inaugurate the Eastern Peripheral Expressway & Delhi-Meerut Expressway on 15 April 2018.
Reviewed the progress of the projects’ completion with Ministry & other officials.@PMOIndia @PIB_India pic.twitter.com/fbabKgv4MN— Nitin Gadkari (@nitin_gadkari) March 28, 2018
“The Eastern Peripheral Expressway will be inaugurated by Prime Minister this month and will set a benchmark in highway construction by being environment-friendly with world-class safety features and smart/interactive infrastructure,” Road Transport, Highways, Shipping, Water Resources and Ganga Rejuvenation Minister Gadkari told reporters here.
The greenfield project, whose foundation stone was laid by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on November 5, 2015, will divert an estimated 2 lakh vehicles passing through the national capital daily to this bypass, bringing down pollution.
The minister said that the cost of construction alone for the project was Rs 4,420 crore.
