NHAI may miss fresh date for Delhi-Meerut Expressway

NEW DELHI: The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) is staring at missing the fresh March 2020 target to complete the Delhi-Meerut Expressway (DME) project as it’s still struggling to get the remaining 10% of land from Uttar Pradesh government for building the greenfield stretch between Dasna and Meerut. The authority is yet to undertake any work on approximately six kilometres, which passes through over half a dozen villages in Ghaziabad.
Failure to build the 6 kms will make the entire 32-km greenfield stretch of no use for motorists unlike in highway expansion projects where traffic can keep moving on the existing stretch if some stretches are not widened.“Even a few metres of unreconstructed patch in a greenfield or new alignment corridor makes the entire road useless as there will be dead end. It will remain unused until we build the entire stretch,” said an official, who did not wish to be named.
Officials said the UP government is yet to hand over nearly 35 hectares of land even after two years since the NHAI took up the issue with the state. They said it was surprising that while the state administration was quick to acquire land for the recently approved Jewar airport in Gautam Budh Nagar, there seem to be little urgency to get the land for the expressway project. “If there is further delay in getting the land, there will be delay and the construction company will seek higher payment from us,” an NHAI official said.
Recently, former NHAI chairman N N Sinha had flagged the issue of non-availability of the required land at a public event, which was attended by UP deputy chief minister and PWD minister Keshav Prasad Maurya. The project is likely to be reviewed this week at the PRAGATI meeting, which is chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Sources said the most problematic stretch falls in four villages — Dasna, Rasulpur Sikrod, Nahal and Kushaliya villages in Ghaziabad.