The construction of the Delhi-Dehradun Expressway is almost complete and all its stretches are likely to be inaugurated in the coming weeks. On Saturday, the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) launched a drive to plant around 40,000 trees along the corridor. The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) said the tree plantation drive was aimed at balancing environmental protection with infrastructure development. The initiative started from Katha toll plaza in Baghpat district of Uttar Pradesh, and plans to plant 40,000 trees across the corridor.
The ministry says the tree plantation drive will be beneficial for the environment in many ways, like improving air quality, reducing soil erosion and promoting biodiversity.
The government is looking at the scheme as a major initiative to make India’s highways green and sustainable, creating a greener infrastructure ecosystem by involving multiple stakeholders.
The expressway will improve connectivity between Delhi and Dehradun. Although it was to be completed by March 2024, the project was delayed and the partial inauguration scheduled for earlier this year was also postponed. Now the expressway is expected to be fully operational by the end of July. With its opening, the travel time between Delhi and Dehradun will be reduced from 5-6 hours to just 2-2.5 hours.
This route will start from Akshardham in East Delhi and reach Dehradun via Baghpat, Shamli, Muzaffarnagar and Saharanpur. The 210 km long route also includes areas like Geeta Colony, Shastri Park and Sonia Vihar in Delhi. With its opening, the problem of traffic jam in East Delhi will also be reduced to a great extent.
News 18 quoted Ministry official stating that, “We are aiming to open the expressway to traffic before the end of July.”
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