Delhi-Mumbai Expressway set to script new age of development for tribal areas: Gadkari

Union minister of road transport and highways Nitin Gadkari on Thursday said the 1,380-kilometer Greenfield Delhi–Mumbai Expressway (DME) is set to script a new age of development and prosperity in tribal areas of the country as it covers most of the 115 aspirational districts with tribal population.

On the first day of his visit to inspect the progress of the work of DME, Gadkari reached Lakheri area of Bundi district, where his helicopter landed at temporary helipad at Sakhadwa village on Thursday noon following which he reviewed the work progress of DME package-11 and later held interaction with media persons on progress and prospectus of the DME. The union minister was accompanied by state's energy minister B.D. Kalla and officials of highway authority of India. The expressway would save time and petrol and most significantly ''it will bring a new age of development in tribal areas'', he said adding ''it will be highway of development'' in several states and bring socio-economic transformation, which is a major responsibility. The 115 aspirational districts in the country include the maximum tribal districts where the highway passes and it will bring huge change in life of tribal youth, he added. The minister reminded of former American president John Kennedy's remark that 'American roads are not good because America is rich but America is rich because American roads are good'.

The union minister appreciated the quality of work in DME in Rajasthan.

He urged the Rajasthan government to develop industrial clusters, logistic parks and smart cities on both sides of the expressway in the state to provide employment to the youths in rural areas.

Gadkari said he is happy that a good deal of work of DME under Bharatmala Project, worth Rs 1 lakh crore, has been competed so far, but in Rajasthan, the work has now started due to bit delay in clearance by environment and forest departments, however he hoped the work would speed up in next six months. The 1,380 km DME is world's longest expressway and 374 km of it is under construction with cost of Rs 18,000 crore in the state and the entire work order in the state has been awarded, he said. The length of 181 km in the state will be completed by the end March 2022 and remaining works will be completed by January 2023, he claimed. The highway would shorten the distance between Delhi–Mumbai to only 12 to 12.30 hours, the union minister said claiming that efforts are underway to shorten road distances between major cities so that one can travel to one distanced place to other in few hours. The DME is access-controlled expressway where neither human nor animals can go across and that is the reason minimum speed on the expressway is set to be 120 km per hour, the minister said. ''Today I did a trial and I along with Mantriji (the state's minister) and other officials travelled at the speed of 160 km near Dausa and if you travel with the same speed, you would reach Delhi in 2 hours'', Gadkari said. The expressway is the first in Asia and only the second in the world to feature animal overpasses to facilitate unrestricted movement of wildlife in Bundi District, he said.

The DME will have three animal underpass and five animal overpasses with a combined length of 7 km dedicated for unencumbered wildlife movement. The expressway will also include Asia's first and world's second iconic 8-lane 4.89 km tunnel through Mukundra sanctuary, Gadkari said. ''We have to go for development and at the same time have to protect ecology and environment and the project is a combination of the same commitment and we will work to protect wild life'', the minister said.