The Delhi Government has decided to demand its equal share in the revenue that is likely to be generated after the Western Peripheral Expressway (WPE) and Eastern Peripheral Expressway (EPE), from Haryana and Uttar Pradesh start functioning.
The Delhi Cabinet on Saturday approved a proposal demanding its share in the revenue on the toll gates on the expressways. The Delhi Government is bearing 50 per cent of the total cost of the project. The cost of land acquisition for the two expressways was estimated to be at Rs 2,550 crore in 2010 that has now increased to Rs 2,905.2 crore in 2011. This means the contribution of Delhi has already increased to Rs 1,452.6 crore in 2011 as against Rs 1,275.34 crore in 2010. Of these, Rs 653.50 crore has been paid by Delhi while Rs 799.09 crore is pending.
The Cabinet decided that any further release of funds should not be unconditional and should be capped at some level. It further decided that share of the Delhi Government should be fixed on the basis of a cut-off date.
The inordinate delay in execution of the project is also raising the cost. This is despite the regular monitoring of the Supreme Court and the Prime Minister’s Office on a regular basis. Both the expressways were approved in 2005. Due to non-completion of the project in time, Delhi was unnecessarily burdened with higher land acquisition costs and the target to decongest Delhi was not achieved. “The Delhi Government has paid its share of 50%. Therefore, the city should put a condition on sharing the revenue earned by either Haryana or UP Government. It should also claim a share in the toll revenue earned on these expressways,” the Cabinet note stated.
“Having given commitment to the project 10 years ago, Delhi is bearing the burnt of continued movement of transit traffic, its hazards and resultant pollution as well as repeated demands of additional funds for the project. After 10 years, the WPE is only 68 per cent complete while EPE is yet to take off,” it read.
Notably, the Western half of this bypass linking Kundli to Faridabad via NH-10 and NH-8 was designated as the WPE, and the Eastern half of this bypass was designed as EPE. The construction of twin expressways — totaling 270 km — was initiated as per a Supreme Court ruling to get Delhi rid of unwanted traffic.
Five national highways converging at the Capital carry traffic which is not destined for Delhi. But, in the absence of a bypass, this traffic has to move through Delhi. The WPE is 135.6 km long and is known as Kundli-Manesar-Palwal (KMP) project. This is the part of a Ring Road around Delhi to divert nearly two lakh commercial vehicle bypass the Capital every day. The 135 km-long EPE is a proposed road which will bypass Delhi on the eastern side. The project involves construction of a green field six lane expressway with access to control highway connecting Faridabad-Noida-Gaziabad-Sonepat.