EPCA pushes for identification of roads in NCR that could be linked to EPE-WPE

The EPE and WPE together form an outer ring road around Delhi with a total length of 270km providing an alternate route to where all vehicles, not destined for Delhi, could be diverted.

The Supreme Court-appointed Environment Pollution (Prevention and Control) Authority has asked government agencies to identify major roads in National Capital Region that could be connected to the Eastern Peripheral Expressway (EPE) and the Western Peripheral Expressway (WPE).

A view Eastern Peripheral Expressway, near Murad Nagar in Uttar Pradesh. (Sakib Ali / HT File)

The demand comes in view of bringing down vehicular emission in the national capital, as these interchanges would help divert more vehicles, not destined for Delhi, to avail the two recently launched expressways.

“The government agencies have been asked to identify major roads in the NCR, which if connected to EPE and WPE, would help to increase traffic along the expressways by diverting vehicles that are not destined for Delhi,” said Sunita Narain, member of EPCA.

The EPE and WPE together form an outer ring road around Delhi with a total length of 270km providing an alternate route to where all vehicles, not destined for Delhi, could be diverted. Around 183km of the two roads pass through Haryana and around 87km passes through Uttar Pradesh.

A recent study conducted by the Central Road Research Institute on behalf of the Delhi government’s environment department indicated that the launch of EPE brought down vehicular pollution by at least 7%.

“The Eastern Peripheral Expressway was expected to reduce the number of heavy diesel truck traffic that enters the national capital triggering traffic chaos and air pollution. The fact that vehicular pollution levels along the EPE have gone up indicates that the same amount of vehicular pollution has gone down inside the city,” a senior official of the Department of Environment, Delhi said. EPCA had been informed that daily vehicular traffic along EPE has shot up from around 20,000 in June 2018 to 40,000 in January 2019. Around 17,000 vehicles avail the WPE, every day.

According to the department, Nitrogen Dioxide levels shot up by 7% and Carbon Monoxide levels increased by 2.5% along EPE. The level of particulate matter had also gone up by 0.9% along the expressway with an increase in vehicular traffic after the expressway was thrown open in May 2018. While all major highways in the region are connected with the two expressways, EPCA was informed that work on a stretch of road, which would connect the Yamuna Expressway with the EPE, is still pending. EPCA would be writing to Public Works Department, Uttar Pradesh to expedite the process.