Eastern Peripheral Expressway: All you need to know about India's first smart and green highway

Here is all you need to know about the Eastern Peripheral Expressway - India's first smart and green highway.

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will on Sunday dedicate to the nation two newly built expressways - Delhi-Meerut Expressway and the Eastern Peripheral Expressway - in the Delhi-NCR Region. According to reports, the Prime Minister will travel in an open jeep on Delhi-Meerut Expressway and later inaugurate India's first smart and green highway, which is also known as the Eastern Peripheral Expressway (EPE).

"The Prime Minister will travel in an open jeep on Delhi Meerut Expressway for 6 km during which he will be greeted by a huge number of people. The Prime Minister would inaugurate the exhibition and 3D model there and would later fly to Baghpat to dedicate to the nation the EPE," Road Transport, Highways and Shipping Minister Gadkari had said earlier.

The Prime Minister's road show will commence from the Nizamuddin Bridge. 

All you need to know about EPE - India's first smart and green highway

ईस्टर्न पेरिफेरल अपने आप में देश का पहला एक्सिस कंट्रोल ग्रीन फ़ील्ड एक्सप्रेस-वे है। इससे दिल्ली का 27% वाहन प्रदूषण कम होगा और दिल्ली का आधा ट्रैफिक घटेगा।#PragatiKaHighway pic.twitter.com/dBbK7QRm6x — Nitin Gadkari (@nitin_gadkari) May 25, 2018

-The Kundli-Ghaziabad-Palwal (KGP) Expressway, also known as Eastern Peripheral Expressway (EPE), built at a cost of Rs 11,000 crore.

-The 135-km EPE has several unique features and is India's first highway to be lit by solar power besides provisions of rainwater harvesting on every 500 metres on both sides and would showcase 36 national monuments and 40 fountains.
-It has been completed in a record 500 days.

-There are 8 solar power plants on this expressway having a capacity of 4000-kilowatt (4 MW). 

-The state-of-the-art road will have auto challans for over-speeding, as cameras will capture speed of vehicles, besides it will have provisions of tolling only for the distance travelled

-The expressway has an iconic toll plaza at the entry point on Kundli side besides digital art gallery.

-It is equipped with smart and intelligent highway traffic management system (HTMS) and video incident detection system (VIDS) and will set a benchmark in highway construction by being environment-friendly with world-class safety features and smart/interactive infrastructure.

-The foundation stone of the greenfield project was laid by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on November 5, 2015.

-2.5 lakh trees have been planted here including transplant of 8-10 year old trees and drip irrigation provision has been done.

-It has consumed 11 lakh tonnes of cement, 1 lakh tonnes of steel, 3.6 crore cum earthwork and 1.2 cr cum fly-ash.

-The project has generated employment opportunities of about 50 lakh man-days and 9,375 manpower was deployed here. 

-After it becomes operational, a lot of traffic, outbound or non-destined for Delhi will be diverted.

-At least 50,000 vehicles going to Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab, Haryana, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan will be diverted, bringing down vehicular pollution.

-The alignment of EPE starts near Kundli and passes through six parliamentary constituencies, viz Sonepat, Baghpat, Ghaziabad, Noida, Faridabad and Palwal.

-The fully access controlled six-lane expressway provides entry and exit designated interchanges only and has 406 structures of which 4 are major bridges, 46 minor bridges, 3 flyovers, 7 interchanges, 221 underpasses and 8 road-over-bridges (ROBs).

-The amenities include retail fuel outlets, restrooms, motels, restaurants, shops etc. Some of the monuments' replicas pertain to Ashoka Lion, Ashoka Chakra, Konark Temple, Jalianwala Bagh, Gateway of India, Qutab Minar, Char Minar, Lal Quila, Kirti Stambh, India Gate, Hawa Mahal and Gujarat Carving.

-The project had earlier faced resistance from farmers over land and other issues which have since been solved by giving higher compensation.