Union Minister Nitin Gadkari announced on Friday that the Delhi-Dehradun Expressway, designed to reduce the travel time between the two cities to just two hours, will be completed in three months. Currently, it takes about five to six hours to cover the journey. Gadkari also shared an update on the Delhi-Mumbai Expressway, which is anticipated to be completed in two months and will lessen the distance between the two metros from 24 hours to 12 hours.
The Delhi-Dehradun highway consists of two packages, with one package inclusive of Rs 10,000 crore project interlinking Kalindi Kunj in Delhi to Faridabad. Gadkari stated that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is all set to launch this project in the upcoming next 15-20 days. Moreover, the government is also making efforts to construct 36 green express highways with an aim to cut down logistics costs in India. The development of these highways is likely to lower the logistics expenses from the current 14-16% of GDP to 9% in two years. This will also lead to enhanced global competitiveness and will boost exports by 1.5 times.
Measures for preventing road accidents
Talking about road safety, the minister accepted India’s alarming statistics, as 5 lakh accidents took place annually and have taken away the lives of 1.78 lakh people. Gadkari highlighted that measures like correcting black spots on highways and enhancing project planning are expected to reduce these challenges and will bring the number of accidents down nationwide.
Gadkari while addressing ‘Times Network India Economic Conclave 2024’ underlined that the Ministry of Transport contributes 40% of air pollution which is generated by the construction of roads, stubble burning, and fossil fuel usage in nearby states. The government is also working on 400 projects for making alternative fuels by converting 200 lakh tonnes of rice straw on an annual basis. Planning is also going on to tackle stubble-burning issues in two years.
(With inputs from PTI)