Soon people will be able to travel from Delhi to Dehradun in just 2.5 hours. In a move that has the potential to provide a huge boost to tourism and trade for Uttarkhand, the central government has in-principle given nod to the construction of an elevated expressway between Dehradun and New Delhi.
Currently, the distance between Dehradun and Delhi is around 250 km. The proposed elevated road is going to reduce the distance between the national capital and the capital of Uttarakhand to a mere 180 km. This will essentially reduce travel time between the two cities to two and a half hours.
The Centre’s go-ahead to the project was conveyed to Uttarakhand Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat by the National Highway Authority of India Chairman S S Sandhu. He made a courtesy call to the former at his residence here on Monday, an official release said.
Big boost to tourism and manufacturing industries
Congratulating the people of the state after his meeting with Sandhu, the chief minister said the construction of the highway will boost tourism and prove to be a milestone in its economic development. “It will reduce the distance between Dehradun and the national capital to 180 km and the state government will extend all support to the NHAI for the construction of the elevated highway”, Rawat said.
“At present, the distance between Dehradun and Delhi is around 250 km. Work on the highway, which will reduce travel time between the two cities to two and a half hours, will begin soon”, Sandhu said at the meeting with Rawat. Construction of an elevated road on the route besides a new tunnel near Mohand on the outskirts of Dehradun is proposed as part of the project, the NHAI chairman said.
Noting that parts of the proposed highway fall under the jurisdiction of forest and wildlife department of neighboring Uttar Pardesh, Sandhu asked the chief minister to request the UP government for speedy forest and environment clearances so that work on the project could be expedited.
Other important highway-projects by NHAI
Additionally, the National Highway Authority of India has been working on many other ambitious expressway projects. The government is working on the Delhi-Mumbai expressway which is expected to be completed in 3 years’ time.
The highway once completed is going to cut down the distance between the two major Indian cities by 280 km. Now, travelers can reach Mumbai from Delhi in just 12 hours.
