Hurdles cleared for new expressway

Hurdles in the construction of the Eastern Peripheral Expressway have been cleared after protesting farmers reached a pact with the Gautam Budha Nagar district administration. The work, which had to be stopped owing to the farmers’ protest, is set to be resumed soon. Kapil Datta reports

Hurdles in the construction of the Eastern Peripheral Expressway have been cleared after protesting farmers reached a pact with the Gautam Budha Nagar district administration. The work, which had to be stopped owing to the farmers’ protest, is set to be resumed soon.

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Additional district magistrate Harnam Singh said on Friday: "The farmers have accepted our compensation package. The land acquisition process has been completed in two villages on Friday."

About 480 hectares of land was estimated to be acquired for the project. The National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) has so far deposited R233 crore towards land compensation which has been disbursed for acquisition of half of the land. "The NHAI has promised to send the balance amount of R248 crore soon. By end of December, the total land required for the project will be acquired," said Singh.

The expressway has been planned to reduce the pressure of traffic in Delhi and NCR towns. The alignment takes off at Kundli in Haryana and will join NH-2 at Faridabad via Ghaziabad and Noida connecting NH-24. The stretch under Gautam Budha Nagar district mainly falls in Greater Noida areas. In Gautam Budha Nagar, the expressway will pass through 39 villages.