New Delhi, May 19 (IANS) Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta on Tuesday thanked Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari for launching a series of road and connectivity projects across Delhi-NCR to tackle traffic congestion and pollution.

She said the Centre, under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has been working towards building a modern, world-class, and future-ready infrastructure network for the capital.

Speaking after a press briefing addressed by Gadkari, the Chief Minister said Delhi’s traffic situation would have been unimaginable today had the Centre not pushed ahead with the construction of expressways, elevated corridors, tunnels, and signal-free road networks under the Union Minister’s leadership.

Chief Minister Rekha Gupta said that projects worth Rs 1.31 lakh crore had already been sanctioned for the development of the Delhi-NCR region over the past 12 years.

She noted that the Union Minister has now announced that the total value of completed, ongoing, and upcoming road infrastructure projects in the region has reached nearly Rs 1.60 lakh crore.

She made a special mention of the Delhi-Mumbai Expressway link project, calling it a historic gift for the capital. She said her experience during the corridor inspection was remarkable and added that the project would ensure seamless connectivity between Delhi, Noida, Faridabad, Gurugram, and Jewar Airport.

During the briefing, Gadkari also announced several major upcoming projects linked to Delhi. These include a Rs 3,500 crore six-lane project connecting UER-II with the Delhi-Dehradun Expressway, a Rs 7,500 crore Noida-Faridabad high-speed corridor, the Delhi-Amritsar-Katra connectivity project, a Rs 7,000 crore tunnel project from Shiv Murti to Nelson Mandela Marg, and a Rs 5,000 crore elevated corridor from AIIMS to Mahipalpur-Gurugram.

According to the Chief Minister, these projects will significantly reduce traffic pressure in the capital while strengthening regional connectivity. She also highlighted projects such as the Kalindi Kunj interchange and flyover, the Ashram-Badarpur six-lane corridor, signal-free connectivity from the Haryana-Delhi border to Punjabi Bagh, and the six-lane corridor from Mehrauli to the Delhi-Haryana border.

The Chief Minister further said the Centre was not only building roads but also contributing significantly to environmental improvement in Delhi.

She said lakhs of tonnes of waste and inert material extracted from Delhi’s garbage mountains were now being used to construct roads and highways.

–IANS

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