New Delhi, May 27: India’s first green and smart expressway, the Eastern Peripheral Expressway (EPE) or the  Kundli-Ghaziabad-Palwal (KGP) Expressway has been inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi today. The 135-km-long Eastern Peripheral Expressway which is estimated at a budget of Rs. 11,000 crore rupees, has been built in a record time of 17 months. Its foundation stone was laid by PM Modi in November 2015.

Touted to reduce pollution as well as ease the traffic movement while connecting Palwal, Gautam Budh Nagar, Faridabad and Ghaziabad with the Delhi-NCR region, here are 10 facts about the EPE or the KGP which gives it an edge over the other expressways.

Eastern Peripheral Expressway: 10 Facts that makes it a smart expressway:

 

  1. Built in a record time of nearly 500 days, the Eastern Peripheral Expressway (EPE) has eight solar power plants having a capacity of 4000-kilo watt (4 MW).
  2. Goods vehicles from Gurugram, Faridabad, Noida and Ghaziabad will be diverted onto the Eastern Peripheral Expressway before it enters Delhi.
  3. Not only this, the EPE will help divert at least 2 lakh vehicles that passes through the national capital. As per the government, the commercial traffic entering Delhi would be reduced by 30%.
  4. The EPE has intelligent mechanisms and as such will have auto challans for over-speeding. Cameras mounted alongside the expressway will capture speed of vehicles. It will also have provisions of tolling only for the distance traveled.
  5. Video incident detection system, pavement management systems, warning devices, fibre optic network are some of the other facilities which would be available.
  6. The EPE will be functional from today onwards.
  7. There will be an police personnel deployed at all border entry points connecting Delhi with the neighbouring districts.
  8. The fully access controlled six-lane expressway has 406 structures and has four are major bridges, 46 minor bridges, three flyovers, seven inter-changes, 221 underpasses and eight road over bridges.
  9. Retail fuel outlets, rest rooms, motels, restaurants and shops are dotted alongside the Expressway.
  10. The Eastern Peripheral Expressway also has rainwater harvesting system and has 28 fountains along with 2.5 lakh trees.