Modi also inaugurates Ballabhgarh-Mujesar Metro rail link project

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday inaugurated at Sultanpur village in Gurugram the long pending 83-kilometre stretch between Manesar and Kundli of the Kundli-Manesar-Palwal (KMP), also known as Western Peripheral Expressway (WPE).

The PM also inaugurated Rs 580 crore 3.2 km-long Ballabhgarh-Mujesar Metro rail link project, which would facilitate travel for people of Delhi and Faridabad, and laid the foundation stone of the Shri Vishwakarma Skill University, which will come up at Dudhola in Palwal district.

Ballabhgarh becomes the fourth city in Haryana to get Metro connectivity after Gurugram, Faridabad and Bahadurgarh.

With the inauguration of the Kundli-Manesar section of the KMP Expressway, the entire stretch of 135-km highway, which is intended to ease congestion by bypassing Delhi on its western border, is now open for traffic.

Addressing a public gathering in Sultanpur later, Modi said with the inauguration of the KMP project, Ballabhgarh-Mujesar rail link and the foundation stone of the skill varsity being laid, Haryana has taken one more step towards all-round development.

Inaugurating the expressway, Modi said, “It is a significant day for Haryana and it will bring about a transport revolution in the State. He also blamed the previous Congress regime in Haryana for creating obstacles and delaying development projects.

“Work was going on this (KMP) Expressway for 12 years. You should have got this expressway 8-9 years back. It was to be used during the (2010) New Delhi Commonwealth Games. This shows the work culture of the previous Government which encouraged delays and wastage of public money,” Modi said.

During a public rally at Sultanpur, the PM recounted the achievements of his Government in developing infrastructure in the country.

“Development of infrastructure plays a very important role in raising the standard of living of the people of this country. Highways, railways, airways, waterways, as well as electricity-related infrastructure, our focus areas of this Government,” the PM said.

During the occasion, Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar said the expressway would lead to more development of the National Capital Region (NCR) here. He also blamed the previous Congress regime of delay in the KMP project.

He said the 83-km Kundli-Manesar section was completed four months ahead of the revised deadline.

Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari had formally inaugurated the 53-km Manesar-Palwal section of the expressway, which was opened to traffic in 2016.

The expressway will provide an alternative route to vehicles headed for Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan and is expected to help ease traffic flow, especially that of heavy vehicles. It is estimated that it will divert 50,000 vehicles.

The total cost of the project is Rs 6,400 crore, 3,846 acre was acquired at a cost of Rs 2,988 crore. The expressway will reduce 30 per cent pollution and ease 40 per cent traffic jam in Delhi.

The significance of the six-lane KMP expressway is that it will connect four major national highways (NH), NH-1 (Delhi-Ambala-Amritsar), NH-2 (Delhi-Agra-Varanasi-Dankuni), NH-48 (Delhi-Jaipur-Ahmedabad-Mumbai) and NH-10 (Delhi-Hisar-Fazilka-Indo-Pak border).

The length of the Kundli to Manesar stretch was over 83 km. The stretch has fourteen major and minor bridges, four railways over bridges, 56 underpasses, 7 intersections, 7 toll plazas 64 pedestrian crossings.

The exact toll rates for various vehicles are yet to be revealed but it will be about 1.25 times more expensive than regular national highways.

Similarly, the Manesar-Palwal stretch is over 52 km long and has 32 underpasses, three intersections and four toll plazas. The design speed of the expressway was 120 kmph for light vehicles and 100 kmph for heavy ones.

Furthermore, commuters travelling on the KMP will pay for the distance they travel and not for the entire corridor.

Seven toll plazas have been set up on the 83-km stretch of the six-laned KMP Expressway, which is access-controlled to charge the commuters according to the distance travelled by them.

Of the seven toll plazas, two of the toll plazas will be in Sonepat district at Abbaspur and Pipli villages, while another two will be in Jhajjar district at Mandholi and Badli. The remaining three toll plazas will be in Gurugram at Sultanpur, Patli-Hazipur and Mokalwas.

There are also weigh-in-motion machines installed at all entry points to stop the entry of overloaded vehicles on the super expressway. Amenities for users include one ambulance, one crane and one police patrolling vehicle with a helpline number has been stationed in every 20km for speedy response in case of accidents or emergencies.

The Haryana Government has announced plans to develop five new cities over an area of 50,000 hectares on each side of the KMP (KMP) expressway.

Apart from this, near the toll plaza, a world-class Art and Culture Gallery has been set up to depict the project development history through 3D Holographic models. Fountains, historical and cultural monuments connected to Shrimad Bhagwad Gita and Yoga have been placed at various locations to improve the aesthetic look of the expressway.

The expressway, which was conceived in 2002, was to be originally completed in July 2009. However, on account of litigation and various controversies, the project continued to hang fire during the 10-year rule of the previous Congress government led by Bhupinder Singh Hooda.

The PM was accompanied by Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar, Union Ministers Rao Inderjit Singh, who is a Gurugram MP, Haryana Governor Satyadev Narayan Arya and PWD Minister Rao Narbir Singh was also present on the occasion.

Khatttar said the inauguration of the KMP expressway and extension of Faridabad Metro Rail by PM was the beginning of the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.

Khattar said he was sure the BJP will win as much as 350 Lok Sabha seats in the 2019 general elections. He said under the guidance of the PM, the Party would win all the ten Lok Sabha seats in Haryana.

The expressway will provide an alternative route to vehicles headed for Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan and is expected to help ease traffic flow, especially that of heavy vehicles. It is estimated that it will divert 50,000 vehicles.