Decongest Delhi roads, BJP MPs urge Gadkari

Bharatiya Janata Party MPs Wednesday met Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari to discuss ways to decongest Delhi's roads and improve the air quality.

This follows weeks after the city was declared the most polluted in the world by the World Health Organisation.

BJP MPs -- Meenakshi Lekhi, Ramesh Bidhuri and Maheish Giri -- told Gadkari that the completion of the eastern and western corridors criss-crossing the neighbouring states of Haryana and Uttar Pradesh was very important to reduce congestion on Delhi's roads and in turn curb pollution.

"Both the eastern and western peripheral expressways that help in channeling non-city-bound traffic around it have seen weak progress," said a BJP statement.

"The project has seen cost overruns due to delays and lackadaisical attitude of the previous central government and both the state governments," it added.

The expressways, 135 km long each, were planned in 2006 following a Supreme Court order to construct a ring road around Delhi that would ensure that non-Delhi bound traffic bypasses the city.

The leaders called for all the stakeholders to "come forward" and expedite the work as both the corridors will help Haryana and Uttar Pradesh to earn revenue while helping in reducing traffic snarls in Delhi.

"The states will earn revenue through development of commercial areas and townships along the expressways apart from significant impact on traffic decongestion in Delhi," said the statement.