New Delhi

Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta on Tuesday said the capital’s traffic situation would have become “unimaginable” had the Centre not undertaken large-scale infrastructure projects such as expressways, elevated corridors and tunnels.

Gupta made the remarks while inspecting the final stretch of the Delhi-Mumbai Expressway along with Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari.

“Delhi's traffic situation would have been unimaginable today had the Centre not pushed ahead with the construction of expressways, elevated corridors, tunnels and signal-free road networks under the Union Minister's leadership,” Gupta said.

She added that Gadkari had announced that the total value of completed, ongoing and upcoming road infrastructure projects in the region has reached nearly Rs 1.60 lakh crore.

Calling the Delhi-Mumbai Expressway link project a “historic gift” for the national capital, Gupta said the project would provide seamless connectivity between Delhi, Noida, Faridabad, Gurugram and Noida International Airport.

The chief minister said the Centre, under Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has been working to create a “modern, world-class and future-ready infrastructure network” for Delhi to tackle persistent issues such as traffic congestion and pollution.

Gadkari also announced several upcoming projects for the capital region, including a Rs 3,500 crore six-lane corridor connecting UER-II with the Delhi-Dehradun Expressway, a Rs 7,500 crore Noida-Faridabad high-speed corridor and the Delhi-Amritsar-Katra connectivity project.

Other planned projects include a Rs 7,000 crore tunnel from Shiv Murti to Nelson Mandela Marg and a Rs 5,000 crore elevated corridor connecting AIIMS to Mahipalpur-Gurugram.

“These projects will significantly reduce traffic pressure in the capital while strengthening regional connectivity. These would make travel within Delhi faster, safer and smoother,” Gupta said.

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She also highlighted the use of waste material from Delhi’s landfill sites in road and highway construction, saying lakhs of tonnes of waste and inert material extracted from garbage mountains are now being repurposed for infrastructure projects.