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Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday inaugurated the Kundli-Manesar section of the Kundli-Manesar-Palwal (KMP) Western Peripheral Expressway in Haryana and said it will contribute to "reducing pollution".
"This western peripheral expressway will contribute to reducing pollution. In a way, this expressway will help the economy, environment, ease of travelling and ease of living," Modi said.
On the occasion, he also attacked the Congress party.
"This western peripheral expressway had to be completed during commonwealth games, but we all know what was done back then, this expressway was also a victim of that," PM said.
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He also inaugurated the 3.2 km-long Ballabhgarh-Mujesar Metro rail link, which would facilitate travel for people of Delhi and Faridabad, and laid the foundation stone of the Shri Vishwakarma Skill University, which will come up at Dudhola in Palwal district.
The inaugurations and foundation laying stone ceremonies were done through remote from Sultanpur village of this district. The prime minister, on his arrival at Sultanpur village in this district, went around visual art exhibition pertaining to the KMP project. Modi was briefed by the officials about the project.
He was accompanied by Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar, Union ministers Rao Inderjit Singh, who is a Gurgaon MP, and Birender Singh. Haryana Governor Satyadev Narayan Arya was also present on the occasion.
Earlier this year, Manesar to Palwal stretch of the KMP, whose entire length is 135.65 km, was opened for public, Khattar said on the occasion. A sum of Rs 6,400 crore has been spent on the expressway project and 3,846 acres of land was acquired at a cost of Rs 2,788 crore, a Haryana government spokesperson said.
The length of the stretch from Kundli to Manesar is over 83 km. This stretch would have 14 major or minor bridges, 56 underpass or agricultural vehicular underpasses, seven intersections and seven toll plazas.
The expressway will decongest the road traffic from Delhi, especially reducing the number of trucks entering the national capital, thus helping in reducing pollution.
Besides, the project will also provide high-speed link between northern Haryana and southern districts and give uninterrupted high-speed link for traffic, especially commercial traffic, from Haryana to neighbouring states.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in Haryana has blamed the previous Congress regime of delay in the KMP project.
The prime minister inaugurated the Rs 580 crore Metro link in Sultanpur village in the district.
Ballabhgarh becomes the fourth city in Haryana to get metro connectivity after Gurgaon, Faridabad and Bahadurgarh. The skill university will come up over an area of 82.5 acres at a cost of Rs 989 crore.
Meanwhile, the Congress on Monday alleged the Modi government and the Manohar Lal Khattar government are endangering the lives of commuters by inaugurating an incomplete Expressway in Haryana without any testing by engineers.
In a series of tweets, Congress leader Randeep Singh Surjewala said that Modi should order an inquiry.
"PM Modi and CM Khattar are endangering the lives of thousands of commuters by illegally and forcibly inaugurating an incomplete KMP Expressway," he said.
Surjewala demanded to know why "no testing of KMP by engineers, illegally called as Partial COD(Commercial Operation Day)", had been done.
He said the third party consultant had refused to give 'completion certificate' and "even HSIIDC (Haryana State Industrial and Infrastructure Development Corp) refused to own responsibility for mishap"
He asked if Modi and Khattar were "risking commuter lives only for quick publicity in the middle of elections and to benefit the private operator".
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(With inputs from agencies)
