Western Peripheral Expressway inaugurated: 10 Key Points

Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the Western Peripheral Expressway (WPE), also known as the Kundli-Manesar-Palwal (KMP) stretch on Monday. He will then lay the foundation of the country's first Sri Vishwakarma Skill Development University in Palwal district via video conferencing.

Western Peripheral Expressway: 10 Key Points 

1. With the opening of the KMP expressway, heavy vehicles will get access to various industrial towns such as Maneser, Sohna, Dharuhera, Bawal and Bhiwadi in Haryana without entering Delhi.
2. The expressway will cut down the distance between various northern and western states. This will also help in reducing air pollution in the national capital. 
3. Both the Eastern Periphery Expressway and the Western Periphery Expressway were planned in 2003 following the Supreme Court order to form a ring road outside Delhi for channeling non-Delhi bound traffic bypassing the national capital.
4. The WPH crosses NH-44 at Kundli, NH-10 at Bahadurgarh, NH-8 at Manesar, NH-248 A at Sohna and NH-2 at Palwal. Almost 15 flyovers will be built at different places along the stretch to facilitate smooth commute.
5.  A total of Rs 6,400 crore has been spent on the expressway project and 3,846 acre of land was acquired at a cost of Rs 2,788 crore.
6. The project missed multiple deadlines and subsequently the then Congress-led government of the state decided to terminate the contract and pay KMP Expressway and lenders Rs 1,300 crore as a termination payment. The project was revived in 2014. It was also decided to upgrade the expressway to a six-lane expressway.
7. Light vehicles can ply at 120 kmph and heavy ones at 100 kmph. 
8. On May 27, PM Modi had inaugurated the Eastern Peripheral Expressway
9. The two expressways are dubbed as the first smart and green highway, with an intelligent highway traffic management system (HTMS), video incident detection system (VIDS), electrified by solar panels and faster Electronic Toll Collection (ETC) system at toll booths
10. The 135-km-long Eastern Peripheral Expressway envisages signal-free connectivity between Ghaziabad, Faridabad, Gautam Budh Nagar (Greater Noida) and Palwal.