PM to inaugurate eastern expressway on May 27

NEW DELHI : The 135- kilometre Eastern Peripheral Expressway (EPE), one half of the ring road coming up around Delhi to decongest the city, will be thrown open for public on May 27, senior road transport and highways ministry officials said on Monday.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate the EPE on May 27, an official said.

The Rs 5,763 crore EPE will provide signal-free connectivity between Ghaziabad, Faridabad, Greater Noida and Palwal on the periphery of Delhi, channelling non-delhi-bound traffic, decongesting the capital and reducing pollution. Around 200,000 such vehicles pass through the capital every day, contributing to air pollution and traffic jams .

“The PM will travel on some stretches of the EPE on his way to Baghpat where he will hold a public rally,” a second official said.

Before visiting the EPE, Modi will hold a road show on the Delhi stretch of the Delhi-meerut Expressway that has already been opened for the public,” the official added.

On May 10, the Supreme Court had ordered the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) to throw open the EPE on June 1, whether or not the PM inaugurated the project before that date.

The court, which was hearing a petition related to air pollution in Delhi, said the project should be inaugurated on or before May 31, or be thrown open to traffic from the following day, reflecting its displeasure over the delay in the inauguration of the EPE.

The PM could not inaugurate the project because of his prior commitments, the NHAI counsel had said. The highways ministry, however, clarified later that the PMO had considered two dates -one in the last week of April and the second in the second week of May. But the ministry deferred the inauguration as the project was not 100 % completed.