PM to open section of first wildlife-friendly Delhi-Mumbai Expressway
NEW DELHI: The first section of the Delhi-Mumbai Expressway between the national capital and Dausa in Rajasthan is complete. PM Narendra Modi will inaugurate the part of the high-speed controlled access highway touted as Asia’s largest wildlife friendly corridor, on Sunday.
On the occasion, he will also lay the foundation stone of three national highway projects to be developed at a cost of more than Rs 5,940 crore.The new stretch will reduce travelling time between Delhi and Jaipur to just three and half hours. The expressway will have several wayside amenities and three animal overpasses and five underpasses to facilitate unrestricted movement of wildlife.
Once completed, the National Highways Authority of India plans to plant 20 lakh saplings along its entire length. Three-feet high boundary walls and sound barricades are being put for protection of animals.
Developed at a cost of more than Rs 12,150 crore, this first completed section of the Delhi-Mumbai Expressway will provide a major boost to the economic development of the entire region, the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) said.
The Delhi-Mumbai Expressway will be India’s longest with a length of 1,386 km. It will reduce travel distance between Delhi and Mumbai by 12 per cent, from 1,424 km to 1,242 km, while the travel time will be cut by 50 per cent, from the current 24 hours to 12 hours.The expressway will pass through six states of Delhi, Haryana, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and Maharashtra and connect major cities like Kota, Indore, Jaipur, Bhopal, Vadodara and Surat.
It will also serve 93 PM Gati Shakti Economic Nodes, 13 ports, eight major airports and eight multi-modal logistics parks (MMLPs) along with spurs to new upcoming greenfield airports such as Jewar Airport, Navi Mumbai Airport and JNPT port.It will have a catalytic impact in the developmental trajectory of all adjoining regions, thus contributing in a major way in the economic transformation of the country, the PMO said.
“On #Delhi_Mumbai_Expressway, wayside amenities are being developed across the corridor to provide standardized World-Class infrastructure and ancillary services for the highway network.