Opening this Sunday: New expressway stretch to Jaipur

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to open the Sohna-Dausa stretch of the Delhi-Mumbai Expressway on Sunday, a highway stretch that is set to cut travel time between Delhi and Jaipur from the current five hours to 2.5-3hours.

The Prime Minister will inaugurate the stretch in Dausa, Rajasthan, senior officials aware of the development said on Friday.

Manoj Kumar, a member of the projects department at the National Highways Authority of India, said the Sohna-Dausa stretch of the Delhi-Mumbai Expressway project is likely to be opened for traffic from Tuesday.

NHAI officials said the Sohna-Dausa stretch of the 1,380km-long Delhi-Mumbai Expressway will offer an alternative highway to commuters and the commercial vehicles, which at present have to depend on the busy Delhi-Jaipur Expressway, which witnesses heavy congestion due to several bottlenecks. It will also improve connectivity between Gurugram, Nuh, Palwal and adjoining areas as it will be connected to these areas via loops, they said.

To connect the DND Flyway with Mumbai-Delhi Expressway, the NHAI is building a road between DND Flyway and Jaitpur along the Yamuna river and the second package from Jaitpur to Ballabhgarh (25km). The third package from Ballabhgarh to Sohna (26km) will complete the connectivity between DND and Delhi-Mumbai Expressway. “The work on three packages to connect DND Flyway with Mumbai Delhi expressway is being carried out simultaneously,” said a senior NHAI official.

NHAI project director Mudit Garg, who is in-charge of the Sohna-Dausa stretch, said PM Modi will inaugurate the expressway stretch in Dausa, while another programme will be held at Hilalpur near Sohna, where Union road transport and highways minister Nitin Gadkari and Haryana chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar will be present.

“Sunday’s itinerary is being finalised. After the opening of the Sohna-Dausa stretch, commuters can expect to cover the distance between Delhi and Jaipur within three hours,” Garg said.

“Soon to be inaugurated by PM Shri @narendramodi Ji, the Sohna-Dausa stretch of the #Delhi_Mumbai_Expressway will enable a hassle-free 2-hour journey between Delhi and Jaipur,” Gadkari tweeted on Friday.

According to NHAI, the Sohna-Dausa stretch is an eight-lane access-controlled expressway and it can be expanded to 12 lanes in the future. A median of 21-metre width is being built on the stretch, which can be later reduced for widening the road, NHAI officials said.

The Sohna-Dausa stretch will cover 160km in Haryana and pass through Gurugram, Palwal and Nuh districts. It will cover 11 villages in Gurugram district, seven villages in Palwal and 47 villages in Nuh district. The stretch in Haryana is estimated to cost around 10,400 crore, NHAI officials said.

A senior NHAI official said that besides Gadkari and CM Khattar, Gurugram Member of Parliament (MP) and Union minister Rao Inderjit Singh is also likely to be present at the inauguration. “It will be a day-long event and multiple programmes will be held both in Haryana and Rajasthan,” he said.

NHAI officials said the Sohna-Dausa stretch will have an advanced traffic management system (ATMS) for smoother movement of vehicles.

The NHAI had earlier said that the Delhi-Mumbai Expressway, once completed, will halve the commute time between the national capital and financial capital from the existing 24 hours to 12 hours and also shorten the distance by 130km. It will generate an annual fuel savings of more than 320 million litres and reduce CO2 emissions by 850 million kg, which is equivalent to planting 40 million trees.

Being developed at a cost of 98,000 crore, the 1380km-long Delhi-Mumbai Expressway will be the longest expressway in India, officials added.