National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) officials on Thursday said they will complete the six-kilometre long priority stretch, between UP Gate and Hindon bridge, of the Delhi Meerut Expressway (DME) project by April 15. The stretch will be constructed under Phase 2 of the project which will connect UP Gate and Dasna.
“The six-kilometre long stretch—comprising six expressway lanes and eight highway lanes—will be fully operational with all facilities including eight bus stops, six underpasses, and two foot overbridges (at Chhijarsi and Electronic City, Noida) by April 15. The rest of the stretches under Phase 2 will be made functional by May, 2020,” RP Singh, project director of NHAI, said.
Once ready, the 19.2km long Phase 2 will cater to about 1.2 lakh vehicles. May, 2020 has been fixed as the deadline for finishing Phase 2 after the DME project was reviewed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in November last year. The six-kilometre stretch will largely benefit commuters of Ghaziabad and Noida who wish to travel between the two cities or visit the national capital.
Currently, work on Phase 2 is 73% complete, while the 32-km long Phase 4 (Dasna to Meerut) is 70% complete. Phase 1 (Akshardham to UP Gate) and Phase 3 (Dasna to Hapur) of the DME are already operational.
{{/usCountry}}Currently, work on Phase 2 is 73% complete, while the 32-km long Phase 4 (Dasna to Meerut) is 70% complete. Phase 1 (Akshardham to UP Gate) and Phase 3 (Dasna to Hapur) of the DME are already operational.
{{/usCountry}}“The under-construction underpass at Chhijarsi which will be complete within a week. Work on four lanes that go over the Hindon canal is also pending,” Singh added.
However, the NHAI is currently facing issues with taking construction work forward as about 25% of their workforce, deployed each for Phase 2 and Phase 4, has not returned to work since Holi (March 10).
“Most of these workers are semi-skilled or skilled. The concessionaires of the two phases have notified us about the issue and this could affect work on the two projects. However, we are waiting for a week and replacement workers will be deployed to ensure that timelines are not missed,” Singh said.
Over 1,200 workers are deployed under Phase 2, while Phase 4 engages over 1,500 workers.
Earlier, the officials had also planned on opening the 10-km long stretch between UP Gate and Vijay Nagar, but the plan could not go through as some work on shifting the Ganga water pipelines is still pending near Pratap Vihar.
“At Pratap Vihar, the highway is also connected to a major road that goes towards Greater Noida. We need traffic diversion at the spot to complete the pending work there,” he added.