The people of Delhi could soon look at possible reduction in traffic as pollution as Prime Minister Narendra Modi is all set to inaugurate the Kundli Manesar Palwal Expressway or the KMP Expressway. The Kundli Manesar expressway will act as a ring road around Delhi and also could reduce heavy vehicle traffic by diverting up to 50,000 commercial vehicles away from Delhi. The Kundli Manesar Expressway was scheduled to be completed in 2009 but missed multiple deadlines due to problems in land acquisition. As KMP Expressway goes fully operational, all vehicles which are going southwards and westwards will be able to do so without entering Delhi, thereby easing the traffic situation in the city itself. The basic idea is to connect Northern Haryana with neighbouring states via a high-speed road, especially for heavy commercial vehicles. On the sidelines of the inauguration of the KMP Expressway or the Western Peripheral Expressway, PM Modi will also inaugurate the Ballabhgarh Metro station in Sultanpur District.
The entire Kundli Manesar Palway Expressway project has been developed over 2,846 acres of land. The total cost of acquiring the land was Rs. 2,788 crore. The Expressway will connect NH-1 which goes towards Panipat, at Kundi, with NH-10 near Bahadurgarh. Other connections will be made at NH-8 at Manesar and at NH-2 on the Delhi-Agra highway near Palwal. In total, the Expressway will cover five districts which are Sonipat, Gurugram, Palwal, Mewat and Jhajjar, all in Haryana. The total KMP Expressway length is 135.6 kilometres and it is a Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) project. Taking the eastern peripheral expressway and the western peripheral expressway into account, the total route is about 270 kilometres long. In a bid to offer safety for commuters, a chain-link fence has been installed along the entire length of the expressway in addition to three metres wide metal beam barriers.
The KMP Expressway has eight small bridges, six large bridges along with 34 underpasses and 64 pedestrian crossings. Also, the six-lane expressway will have numerous refreshment centres, parking lots, police stations, petrol pumps dotted along.
The KMP Expressway speed limit is 120 kmph for light vehicles and 100 kmph for heavy and commercial vehicles. 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.
