New Expressway: Delhi part of the Dwarka Expressway will be ready by December, which is expected to reduce the traffic pressure on the Delhi-Gurugram Expressway by 30 percent. Due to delay in the construction of the tunnel, the project could not be completed on time, but now the target has been set to complete it by December at any cost. This is the country’s first urban expressway whose elevated part is built on a single pillar.
New Expressway: Within the next two months, i.e. by December, the Delhi part of the Dwarka Expressway will also be ready. Now only three to four percent work is left on the tunnel being built to directly connect the Delhi-Gurugram Expressway to Palam Airport. With the completion of the project, the traffic pressure on the expressway is expected to reduce by 30 percent. While this will provide some relief from traffic jams, the pollution level will also reduce.
The Dwarka Expressway is being constructed at a cost of about nine thousand crore rupees from in front of Shiv Murti in Mahipalpur, Delhi to near Kherki Daula toll plaza in Gurugram. Its Gurugram part has been started. The upper part of the Delhi part is ready. Due to delay in the construction of the tunnel, the project could not be completed on time, otherwise the project was to be completed by December last year.
Special attention is being paid to the car reaching the airport directly
The tunnel is being constructed keeping in mind that cars reach the airport directly from the Dwarka Expressway. Currently, cars reach the airport via the Delhi-Gurugram Expressway. With the opening of the tunnel, the pressure of thousands of cars going to the airport from Dwarka Expressway will be reduced on the Delhi-Gurugram Expressway.
The total length of the tunnel is about 100 km. Out of this, a part of 3.5 km from Delhi’s Dwarka side has been completed several months ago. Only some work is left on the part from near Shiv Murti to the airport.
Target to complete it by December at any cost
Indian National Highways Authority’s regional officer Mohammad Safi says that the work is being done keeping in mind the target of completing the project by December at any cost. It is expected that as soon as the construction of the tunnel is completed during December, vehicles will start running on the entire route.
First expressway built on a single pillar
This is the country’s first urban expressway whose elevated part is built on a single pillar. Two lakh MT steel has been used for the strength of the expressway, which is 30 times more than the construction of the Eiffel Tower. Six times more concrete than was used in the construction of Burj Khalifa, i.e. 20 lakh CUM, has been used.
About 30 km long expressway
This is the country’s shortest expressway. 18.9 km is in Gurugram, the remaining 10.1 km is in Delhi. 23 km is elevated and the rest is underground (tunnel). The work of constructing a toll plaza on the Gurugram-Delhi border is also going on at a fast pace. It is said that the construction of the toll plaza will be completed by next month.
The Dwarka Expressway project is a good example of modern technology. After the completion of the project, people going to Delhi from Sohna and Manesar will save one hour. This will reduce the traffic pressure on the Delhi-Gurugram Expressway. The use of better technology in construction has controlled noise pollution to a great extent. As far as making the Delhi-Gurugram Expressway completely free from traffic pressure is concerned, the expressway will have to be elevated for this. – JS Suhag, Investigation Officer (on the panel) and former Technical Advisor, NHAI
