PM Modi Inaugurates Kundali-Manesar-Palwal (KMP) Expressway to Divert Heavily Polluting Vehicles

Guwahati: The Kundali-Manesar-Palwal (KMP) expressway which happens to be the Western Peripheral Expressway is inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday. The inauguration took place in Haryana's Gurugram district.

A project that took really long to be completed, the expressway was expected to be completed in 2009, but it missed multiple deadlines. Finally, after 15 years of long wait, the expressway is complete now and is hoped that will relieve in diverting the heavy polluting vehicles from Delhi. By the time, the expressway completes, the pollution level in Delhi has reached the pinnacle with the government authorities looking and opting for drastic options to cut vehicular traffic.

Now that the Western Peripheral Expressway is ready, it along with the Eastern Peripheral Expressway (EPE), is expected to divert more than 50,000 heavy vehicles away from Delhi.

The total expense incurred in the construction of the expressway is a sum of Rs 6,400 crore for which 3,846 acres of land was acquired at a cost of Rs 2,788 crore. The road, stretching from Kundli to Manesar is over 83 km which includes 14 major/minor bridges, 56 underpasses/agricultural vehicular underpasses, 7 intersections and 7 toll plazas. Vehicles passing through this expressway will have to follow different road rules. Fort light vehicles the speed limit is 120 kmph and for heavy vehicles, it is 100 kmph.

A Haryana government spokesperson states, "The objective of this expressway is to provide a high-speed link between northern Haryana and southern districts and provide an uninterrupted high-speed link for traffic, especially commercial traffic, from Haryana to neighbouring states. It would also decongest the road traffic from Delhi and thereby reduce pollution.”

The spokesperson further informed about the plating of two rows of shrubs in the median of the expressway. Moreover, there would be plants like neem, arjun, and sheesham as well which will be planted near the extreme end of row.

He added, "Apart from this, drip irrigation system would be adopted for a median plantation to conserve and save water. Fountains, historical and cultural monuments have been made at various locations to improve the aesthetic look of the expressway."

There are four earmarked sites - one is for an ambulance, one crane, one police patrol vehicle and the fourth is a helpline number in every 20 km for speedy response in case of accidents or emergencies.

Although the project was originally proposed in 2003 but could be finished in 2018 only, that took a huge time span of 15 years for the project to be completed finally.

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