Page 25 - English 01-15 March, 2026
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Pragati Platform | COVER STORY
PROJECT
Kosi Rail Mahasetu
Sanction Project Length
Year 2003-04 1.9 kilometers PROJECT
Cost Inauguration Eastern-Western Peripheral
₹516 crore Sep 18, 2020 Expressway Project
lThe distance has been reduced to just 22 The Eastern-Western Peripheral Project
Benefits kilometres, and the travel time is now half was approved in 2006. The project was
an hour instead of eight hours.
completed in 2016 and 2018 after a
lThis route has proven extremely beneficial decade of delay.
for the people of the Supaul, Araria, and
Saharsa districts. The project made it easier Eastern Peripheral Expressway
for people in the region to travel to and Foundation Stone Inauguration
from long-distance destinations like Kolkata,
Delhi, and Mumbai. Nov 5, 2015 May 27, 2018
lAn 86-year-old dream of the people Cost: ₹11,000 crore
of the region has come true. The long
wait has ended, as a metre-gauge line PRAGATI Review
was commissioned between Nirmali and A review of the project revealed numerous gaps.
Bhaptiahi (Saraigarh) in 1887. However, the With continued follow-up, the work gained
line was destroyed in the devastating floods momentum, ending years of waiting.
and the India-Nepal earthquake of 1934.
lThe project was conceived in 2003 when Project Length: 270 kilometres
Nitish Kumar was the Union Railway
Minister and Atal Bihari Vajpayee was the lThe Kundli-Manesar section of the Kundli-
Prime Minister. Subsequently, the system Manesar-Palwal (KMP) Western Peripheral
changed, slowing the pace. Expressway was inaugurated on November
19, 2018.
lThe project's completion target was 910 days
after the foundation stone laying ceremony,
but was achieved in just 500 days.
lA total of 1,700 hectares of land was
acquired for the Eastern Peripheral
Expressway at a cost of approximately
₹5,900 crore.
lThe Eastern Peripheral Expressway is
India's first expressway to use solar energy
throughout its 135-km corridor.
lThe Peripheral Expressway project around
Delhi aims to decongest and reduce pollution
levels in the National Capital Region.
March 1-15, 2026 || NEW INDIA SAMACHAR 23
