Dwarka Expressway: Gadkari inspects country's first elevated highway

Gurugram, May 18 (IANS) Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari on Thursday inspected country's first elevated highway from an interchange of the Dwarka Expressway near Khedki Daula Toll in Gurugram to Dwarka in New Delhi.

Gadkari was accompanied by Union Minister of State for Statistics and Programme Implementation and Planning (Independent Charge) and Gurugram MP Rao Inderjit Singh; Union Minister of State for Road Transport and Highways and Civil Aviation VK Singh; and Delhi Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena. Delhi MPs Parvesh Verma and Ramesh Vidhuri were also present.

"With the commencement of this expressway, the connectivity between Gurugram and Delhi's IGI Airport will be improved, as well as the project will have four categories of road transport, which are tunnels, underpasses, flyovers and flyovers overpass. The length of this road is 18.9 km in Haryana region and 10.1 km in Delhi region," Gadkari said.

Rao Inderjit Singh said this is a big gift of the government for the residents of Gurugram.

"With the opening of this expressway, the road infrastructure will get a new expansion not only in Gurugram but also in the NCR region. The people living in the new sectors of this area will also be benefitted," Singh said.

The construction of the Dwarka Expressway is in progress in four sections. The first section is in Delhi region from Shiv Murti in Mahipalpur to Bijwasan (5.9 km), the second is from Bijwasan Railway Over Bridge (ROB) to Delhi-Haryana border in Gurugram (4.2 km), the third in the Haryana region from Delhi-Haryana border to Basai ROB (10.2 km) and Fourth is from Basai ROB to Khedki Daula (cloverleaf interchange) (8.7 km).

Around Rs 2,507 crore will be spent on the construction of the first section in Delhi, Rs 2,068 crore on the section, Rs 2,228 crore on the third in the Haryana region, and Rs 1,859 crore on the construction of the fourth section.

61 per cent of the first section in the Delhi region, 82 per cent of the second, 94 per cent of the third, and 99 per cent of the fourth section in the Haryana border have been completed. The work in both the sections of Haryana region will be completed by next month.

Eight-lane access-controlled Dwarka Expressway is being built at a cost of about Rs 9000 crore.

There is also an eight-lane 34-meter wide elevated road on a single pillar of nine kilometers in length, which is the first elevated road of its kind in the country.

In Haryana, this expressway will meet at Pataudi Road (State Highway-26) near Harsaru and Farukhnagar (State Highway-15A) near Basai. Apart from this, it will also cross the Delhi-Rewari rail line near Sector-88 (B) of Gurugram and Bharthal. The expressway will also connect Sector-88, 83, 84, 99, and 113 to Dwarka Sector-21 along with the proposed Global City in the Gurugram district.