Now Mumbai can be accessed from New Delhi in just within 12 hours as a proposal of constructing a new Delhi-Mumbai Expressway is under progresss. Currently, it takes at least 24 hours to cover the stretch between Delhi and Mumbai on NH-8. The new expressway is going to be an eight-lane one and will be access-controlled. After being operational, as expected, it will handel the traffic concerns of both national and state highways.
The Highway Minister Mr. Nitin Gadkari is taking care of the project and according to him the project will take 2 to 3 years to be fully operational. Being a part of Modi government’s economic corridors project named Bharatmala Pariyojana, it is going to connect the two major Indian cities via Jaipur and Vadodara. At an expense of around Rs 60,000 crore, the Delhi-Mumbai Greenfield Expressway will be of 42,000 km long and it will be routed through Delhi-Gurugram-Mewat-Kota-
Some interesting features of the Expressway :
* It will have a 5-km long tunnel in the route which will be directly connected to Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport Terminal 3.
* There will be four multilevel interchanges with elevated roads or service ways on the expressway.
* It will have cross-road underpasses at major points.
* An intelligent transportation system will also work on it.
Quite naturally, with lesser duration, the distance of the Expressway will also be reduced from 1,450 km to 1,250 km. For its construction work the government has to acquired some of the lands of the farmers and they have been allocated with Rs 25,200 crore as compensation.
With much significance, the Delhi-Mumbai Expressway will help its adjacent backward areas to grow economically. Manufacturing sectors and tourism along the proposed highway will also encounter a positive growth. The expressway will also safeguard some perishable goods like fruits, vegetables and dairy products by availing a smoother and faster transportation.
