Hurdles in Eastern Peripheral Expressway work resolved:SC told

The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has told the Supreme Court that hurdles in ongoing construction of Eastern Peripheral Expressway have been resolved in a "satisfactory manner" in the states of Uttar Pradesh and Haryana.

The 135-km-long Eastern Peripheral Expressway envisages signal-free connectivity between Ghaziabad, Faridabad, Gautam Budh Nagar (Greater Noida) and Palwal.

In a status report filed in the apex court, the NHAI has said that construction work in Haryana was proceeding without any disruption and the issue relating to handing over land of 0.5 km stretch in Sonipat district by the state government to the NHAI has been resolved.
 

"With regard to Eastern Peripheral Expressway in UP, the report states that there is still some disruption caused by persons whose lands have been acquired. However, it is now stated in court today that even this disruption has stopped and the construction is going on in a satisfactory manner," a bench of justices Madan B Lokur and Deepak Gupta noted in its order.

The bench was also informed that some cases pertaining to non-distribution of land acquisition compensation were pending before the district court in Ghaziabad.

The court requested to district judge of Ghaziabad to take up these matters on priority basis as soon as the NHAI approaches the court there.

The Uttar Pradesh government had earlier informed the top court that work on a 25-km stretch of the under-construction Eastern Peripheral Expressway in Ghaziabad, which was stalled following protests by farmers, has resumed.

Besides this, the construction work on the 135-km long Western Peripheral Expressway, which connects Kundli to Palwal via Manesar in Haryana, is also going on.

The court, which has been hearing a 1985 plea filed by environmentalist M C Mehta on various issues including vehicular pollution, had asked the Centre in 2005 to build a peripheral expressway around Delhi by July 2016 to decongest and "de-pollute" the national capital.

The two expressways were planned in 2006 following the Supreme Court order to form a ring road outside Delhi for channeling non-Delhi bound traffic bypassing the national capital.