Delhi-Dehradun e-way to halve travel time; contract award by March

The Ministry of Road Transport And Highways plans to award contracts for construction of 210 kilometres Delhi-Dehradun access-controlled expressway by March this year. The government plans to complete the project in the next two years. The government has decided to execute the project on engineering procurement and construction (EPC) mode.

Once completed, the Delhi-Saharanpur-Dehradun corridor will reduce the distance between the two cities from 235 kilometres at present to 210 kilometres. The project will cut the travel time from 6.5 hours currently to 2.5 hours.

An official from the Road Transport Ministry told BusinessToday.In that the land acquisition and environment impact assessment for the project is in the last phase.

The project will have a six-lane elevated wildlife corridor spanning 12 kilometres for preservation of the wildlife as the expressway alignment crosses wildlife areas.

ALSO READ: NHAI to fine up to Rs 10 crore for major lapses in construction standards

The entire length from Akshardham, which will be the starting point in Delhi, to Dehradun will be divided into four sections, the ministry said.

Section one will have two packages. The first package of 14.75km, with 6.4km of elevated stretch, will be in Delhi. The second package of 16.85km, having 11.2km elevated section, will be in Uttar Pradesh.

"This section would start from Akshardham Temple near DME and pass through Geeta Colony, Khajurikhas and Mandola. This highway also aims to decongest the North East Delhi and also enhance the development potential of Tronica city, Mandola Vihar Yojana of UP Government," said a release from the Road Transport Ministry.

"The second section is six-lane fully access controlled greenfield stretch passing through Baghpat, Shamli, Muzaffarnagar and Saharanpur. The detailed project report is complete and tendering process has been initiated in four packages under the section," said the ministry.

ALSO READ: FM Nirmala Sitharaman announces Rs 25,000 crore for highways in poll-bound West Bengal

The third section starts from Saharanpur bypass and ends at Ganeshpur. "The entire length has recently completed to four lanes by NHAI. Necessary underpasses and service road are being planned to make it fully access controlled to achieve minimum 100 kmph speed," said the ministry.

The fourth section of the proposed expressway is a six-lane access-controlled corridor. This section primarily passes through reserve forest in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand. Out of 20km, 5km are brownfield expansion, and 15km are realignment comprising of elevated wildlife corridor (12 km) and approaches to tunnel.

For the second and the fourth section, the ministry of road transport has targeted to award the contracts by March this year.