Delhi-Mumbai Expressway [UPSC Current Affairs]

Recently, Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the Delhi-Dausa-Lalsot section, which is the first phase of the Delhi-Mumbai expressway. Read more about this development in this article. This is relevant for the UPSC current affairs segment.

Delhi-Mumbai Expressway

Image source: Indian Express

• The Delhi-Mumbai expressway will reduce travel time between Delhi and Jaipur to 3 hours from 5 hours and it will reduce travel time between Delhi and Mumbai from 24 hours to 12 hours.
• The expressway passes through six states namely, Delhi, Haryana, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and Maharashtra and connects major cities like Kota, Indore, Jaipur, Bhopal, Vadodara and Surat.
• It is the first expressway in India that is developed with a 21-metre median on principles of forgiving highways allowing inward expansion.
  • Forgiving highways envisages road designs that aim to smoothly redirect drivers who go off the highways mistakenly over the exit ways and also aim to provide clear zones to facilitate controlled stops for vehicles when they leave the roads.
• The expressway is India’s longest 8-lane access-controlled Greenfield Expressway with scope for future expansion up to 12 lanes.
• The expressway serves 93 PM Gati Shakti Economic Nodes, 13 Ports, 8 Major Airports and 8 multi-modal logistics parks (MMLPs) along with spurs to new upcoming greenfield airports such as Jewar Airport, Navi Mumbai Airport and JNPT port.
• Wayside amenities: Charging stations for electric vehicles, helipads, trauma centres, and dedicated lanes for electric vehicles.
• It is also considered Asia’s first highway and second only in the world to have animal overpasses and wildlife crossings.

Delhi-Mumbai Expressway Significance & Issues

• Economic benefits: The expressway will economically benefit adjoining regions of the expressway.
  • The expressway will drastically improve mobility between Delhi and Mumbai which are two of the important and vibrant metro cities in India.
  • The increased mobility will act as a catalyst for industrialization and urbanization around the corridor.
  • The movement of goods, services and labour will benefit small businesses in the States through which the expressway passes.
  • Connectivity to the ports in Mumbai through the expressway will benefit the international trade of hinterland states like Madhya Pradesh, UP, Bihar, Haryana, etc.
  • It will not only bring down travel time but also consequently reduces the cost of the freight traffic which improves competitiveness with other modes of transport like Railways.
• Environmental impact and issues: 
  • The expressway will help reduce fuel consumption which consequently reduces Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions.
  • The expressway passes through ecologically sensitive conservation areas like Ranthambore National Park, Mukundra Tiger Reserve, etc.
  • The road traffic, pollution and clearing of forests for the expressway will hamper the habitat of many endangered species. 
• Social Impact and issues: 
  • The expressway is expected to bring prosperity to the neighbouring states which are mostly agricultural states like Haryana, Rajasthan, etc.
• Land acquisition for the project may render farmers around the region vulnerable to poverty and exploitation by businessmen due to landlessness.

Conclusion: The expressway brings the political capital and the financial capital of the country closer, which not only brings prosperity and development to the region but also act as a catalyst for the economic growth of the whole country in the long run.

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