NHAI plans to fence 15km stretch of Delhi-Meerut Expressway

NHAI plans to install 15km of fencing along the Delhi Meerut Expressway in Ghaziabad to reduce pedestrian accidents and fatalities.

Ghaziabad: The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has planned to put up about 15km of fence on both sides of the Delhi Meerut Expressway (DME) stretch in Ghaziabad to reduce pedestrian fatalities and accidents, the officials said.

The move will be beneficial as many pedestrians try to cross over to either side of the DME and such a scenario often results in accidents, said an NHAI official. (Sakib Ali/HT Photo)

The proposal to fence the DME stretch in Ghaziabad was put forward by the Ghaziabad traffic police before the NHAI officials recently. And, the NHAI officials said that a proposal to this effect has been sent to their headquarters.

“We expect the proposal to be approved in a fortnight. Thereafter, the work to erect a fence on both the outer sides of the DME, will commence. It will be funded by NHAI, and the work is expected to be completed in about 5-6 months. The move will be beneficial as many pedestrians try to cross over to either side of the DME and such a scenario often results in accidents,” said an NHAI officer, requesting anonymity.

The proposed stretch to be fenced is between UP-Gate and Dasna, said officials.

“The DME passes through areas that have densely populated localities on either side. So, pedestrians, instead of using underpasses, jump over the side crash barriers to cross the expressway in order to be on time and often meet with accidents. So, this proposal was mooted and discussed with NHAI officials in order to bring down the fatality rate,” said additional DCP (traffic) Sacchidanand.

Some of the localities located adjacent to the DME are Khoda, Vijay Nagar, Bamheta, Dundahera, and residential areas at Lal Kuan, among others.

In Ghaziabad, the DME project has 14 lanes. The outermost four lanes on both sides are devoted to the National Highway 9 while the inner three lanes on each side are dedicated expressway lanes.

According to the traffic police’s official records, 44 deaths took place in 53 accidents reported on the DME between January 1 and December 31 in 2023, while 21 fatalities took place during 21 accidents during the same period in 2024.

In 2025, 26 accidents resulted in 20 deaths during the period January 1 to July 31 on the DME.

Overall, the entire Ghaziabad district recorded 886, 991, and 996 different accidents in 2022, 2023, and 2024 (January 1 to December 31 of each year), respectively, and these resulted in 363, 365, and 381 fatalities, respectively.

The number of persons injured in traffic accidents in 2022, 2023, and 2024 stood at 638, 703, and 781, respectively.

In 2025, from January 1 to June 30, the district recorded 537 accidents, which resulted in 189 deaths and also left 414 people injured.