Centre and Haryana government begin work on bypass expressways

NEW DELHI: After much dilly-dallying, the Centre and Haryana government have begun work on the twin bypass expressways, which are expected to provide relief to the national capital from traffic jams and rising air pollution.

While Haryana has awarded one portion of the western peripheral expressway (WPE), also known as KMP Expressway, to a contractor, it has invited tender for the second portion. National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) is set to award the work of the eastern peripheral expressway (EPE) or KGP by the month-end.

The proposal for these crucial projects was passed in 2003. Subsequently, the Supreme Court had cleared the projects in 2005. After completion, the expressways will help Delhi get rid of over 80,000 vehicles per day, mostly trucks and other commercial vehicles, which otherwise enter the city roads.

In fact, due to the delays the costs of these projects have gone up substantially. While these projects were envisaged to be taken up on BOT (toll) model without any government expenditure, now these are being rolled out with 100% government funds.

"The government has to spend from its budget simply for its failure to push the projects. Moreover, we must calculate the value of hundreds of lives lost on Delhi roads because of crashes and the huge cost that people paid because of pollution. All those responsible for delaying these projects have committed a criminal act," said a former NHAI official.

It can be recalled that EPE could have been awarded in 2009 without any government grant since there was a single bid for this project, but UPA-II had scrapped the bidding process altogether. Now, after six years, the expressways will be built with over Rs 6,000 crore of government investment. "We have divided the entire stretch into parts and we can complete the project in time as we have almost 100% land," an NHAI official said. He added the entire stretch can be completed in 2-3 years.