The Union minister for road transport and highways, Nitin Gadkari on Thursday said pollution in Delhi-NCR (National Capital Region) will be reduced after the completion of 15 road projects for the region.

Addressing a gathering programme at Lohtki village of Sohna sub-division of Gurugram district after inspecting the construction work of Delhi-Mumbai Expressway along with Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar, Gadkari said 15 projects for construction of roads and bridges have been approved for Delhi NCR at a cost of Rs 53,000 Crore. Out of these 14 projects are in progress.

With the completion of these projects, pollution will reduce in Delhi NCR and people will not have to waste their time in long traffic jams, the Union minister said. Gadkari said the 1380 kilometre Delhi-Mumbai Express Highway is the longest expressway in India which will be ready by March 2023.

About Rs 95,000 Crore will be spent on this. The part of this expressway from Delhi to Dausa in Rajasthan and from Vadodara to Ankleshwar will be built by March 2022, Gadkari added.

This expressway is being developed as an eight-lane access control greenfield expressway, which can be expanded to 12 lanes by adding 4 more lanes in future. A median of 21 meters width is being built on this expressway, which can be reduced in future to widen the expressway, the minister said.

Gadkari said about 160 km length of this expressway falls in Haryana on which Rs 10,400 Crore is being spent. Out of this, work has also been allotted for the construction of an expressway of 130 km in length.

This expressway will pass through Gurugram, Palwal and Nuh districts of Haryana. Way-side facilities will be built at 6 places in the part falling in Haryana. This also includes various facilities for passengers like resorts, restaurants, dormitories, hospitals, food courts, fuel stations etc., besides parking garages for trucks etc. Not only this, there will also be commercial space of the logistic park.

Gadkari said that a helicopter ambulance service would also be available on this expressway to take the accident victims to the nearest hospital at the earliest. The construction of an elevated road on Gurugram-Sohna road is to be completed by March-2022.

Earlier, Haryana CM said Gurugram, Nuh and Palwal districts would be benefited after the construction of the Delhi-Mumbai Expressway. Investors will come here, industries will come up and people will get employment. A good road signifies the economic progress of that area, said the CM.