Eastern Peripheral Expressway | Kundli-Ghaziabad-Palwal | 6 lanes | Proposed

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http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/c...w/10720563.cms

NEW DELHI: The finance ministry has asked the highway ministry to expedite the implementation of the ambitious Eastern Peripheral Expressway (EPE) project, which aims at decongesting Delhi roads by constructing an expressway around the capital. It has also shot down the proposal for levying a toll one-and-a-half times higher than that of any other national highway (NH) or expressway, and raised questions as to whether or not the ministry's shift in stand to charge higher toll is in "public interest".

The proposal for a higher toll on the 135km expressway was first made by the Planning Commission earlier this year in its communication with the highway ministry. It had said the project should be treated as a bypass and not as a national highway, and that in case a highways project is treated as a bypass, commuters would have to pay a higher toll.

The then highway secretary R S Gujral had initially objected to the proposal in his letter dated February 3, 2011 to the plan panel member secretary, saying bypass toll rates, if applied, may render the EPE unattractive, and lead to "diversion of the overall traffic, especially through the Western Peripheral Expressway (WPE), the other half of the ring expressway around Delhi".

The ministry had observed that such a move would be anti-people. But it changed its stand later and supported the proposal despite the NHAI having already shortlisted the bidders. A note was prepared subsequently to award the project with 1.5 times the normal toll and forwarded to the finance ministry and the PMO.

TOI had earlier reported that the PMO in a letter issued to the ministry had asked it to circulate the proposal among the department of economic affairs (DEA), the law ministry and the Planning Commission for their opinion before going ahead with it. In its recent communication with the highway ministry, the DEA says that the highway ministry may be advised to confirm that the change in stand now is in public interest. It further says levying bypass rates are not justified on grounds of "equity".

It adds that further delay is likely to increase the cost of the project and that delay in the bidding process is also likely to affect the bidder's interest and impact project viability. The project was first considered by the Public Private Partnership Accounts Committee (PPPAC) in 2007 and was finally approved by the Cabinet Committee on Infrastructure (CCI) in May 2011. "Due to delay in implementation of the project, hundreds of lives are lost every year on Delhi roads. A substantial percentage of the fatal accidents are caused by heavy and commercial vehicles. If both the EPE and WPE projects were expedited, we could have prevented loss of many lives," pointed out an NHAI official.