With the Delhi government and the Supreme Court coming down hard on pollution levels in the capital, 8,000 trucks and thousands of other vehicles entering Delhi daily from Gurgaon could have been diverted if the `4,115 crore 136-km Western Peripheral (KMP) Expressway had been completed on time. The project was originally allotted to M/s KMP Expressway Limited in January 2006 and was to be completed by July 29, 2009, at a cost of `1,900 crore. It has missed four deadlines, with work inching from 68.85 per cent in 2013 to 70 per cent at present.
On January 30, 2015, the Supreme Court ordered the Haryana government to award the contract to a new concessionaire.
In July, the government granted the work on the remaining section to M/s Essel Infra Projects Ltd with a targeted completion date of August 2018.
Mighty Expansion
70 km of the Delhi-Panipat section of NH 1 will be widened at a cost of `2,129 crore. It will include 23 junctions, five underpasses, 72 culverts, 78 bus bays, 10 flyovers, 17 bridges and a toll plaza and will have 141-km two-lane service roads.