NHAI Gets Directed By Supreme Court to Open Eastern Peripheral Expressway Before May 31st

1. NHAI Gets Directed By Supreme Court to Open Eastern Peripheral Expressway Before May 31st The Supreme Court of India directed the National Highways Authority of India to open the Eastern Peripheral Expressway for the usage of the public before May 31st. They issued a notice asking the authorities explanation as to why they were waiting for the inauguration of the expressway by the Prime Minister and delaying the inaugural of the same. The 135-km stretch of the expressway connecting Ghaziabad, Faridabad, Gautam Budh Nagar and Palwal has been directed to be opened by the end of this month in a hearing conducted on May 10th 2018 by the Supreme Court. The construction of the Eastern and Western peripheral expressways was initiated back in 2006 after the court ordered building a ring road outside the periphery of the national capital for managing the traffic that is not bound for Delhi. The project was supposed to be executed by the end of July 2016 in order to decongest the overwhelming traffic in Delhi. The bench headed by Justices Madan B Lokur and Deepak Gupta concluded their decision stating that the expressway needs to be opened publically since the construction has been successfully completed, as mentioned by the NHAI officials. As per the reports, National Highways Authority of India claimed that the inauguration was supposed to be done on April 29th 2018 by the Prime Minister himself which was later cancelled because of prior commitments. When the news was forwarded to the justices heading the panel, they ordered the NHAI officials to not wait for any formal inauguration event and just move forward with the process of making the expressway open for public use. The Supreme Court expressed their anguish over the delay of the inaugural which is why they have instructed to do the needful before the end of this month. Addressing the issue, the Union Minister of Road Transport and Highways, Mr NitinGadkari stated that the construction is done with and the expressway is going to be inaugurated soon. He further stated that the Ministry is seeking the Prime Minister’s time following which the inauguration is going to take place. Upon oppression from the decision of the Supreme Court, the National Highways Authority of India counsel has declared that they will ensure that the expressway is open by May 29th 2018. Owing to the worsening condition of the traffic in Delhi, this is the need of the hour. The expressway will act as a great diversion to the heavy inflow of traffic to the national capital of the country. NHAI is working to improve the traffic and highway conditions in the country and this is yet another milestone in this regard. After the successful implementation of the Electronic Toll Collection at the toll plazas, which has improved the condition of the traffic congestion around the country, the expressway will further ease the process even more. The Eastern peripheral expressway was the one that took the maximum time for the construction which was concluded recently. There has been no declaration regarding the official inauguration date for the expressway but the same is expected to be finished by the end of May 2018. #ElectronicTollCollection #TollPlazas #HighwaysinIndia