Gadkari unhappy with poor road-side amenities on Delhi-Meerut Expressway

New Delhi, Apr 24 (PTI): Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari on Saturday regretted that the Delhi-Meerut Highway contractors have failed to construct adequate roadside facilities where people can ease themselves.
The minister said that although people were thanking him for the Delhi-Meerut Expressway, but he has seen picture of one badly constructed road-side amenity on the expressway.
“People are happy with the Delhi-Meerut Express highway. Lots of people are thanking me.
“(But), there is one roadside amenity on Delhi-Meerut highway. I have seen the picture, I don’t want to take the name of the contractor. But, the roadside amenity that he has constructed is so bad and dirty that one can’t even use the toilet facility,” he added. Gadkari said he would pull up the contractor for not doing the job properly. He further said the need of the hour is to create 100 companies like Larsen and Toubro (L&T) and ensure that smaller companies grow bigger.
The much-awaited Delhi-Meerut Expressway, pegged as a smart highway, was opened for public on April 1 after the completion of its remaining stretches. Prime Minister Narendra Modi in May 2018 had inaugurated the first phase of the Rs 8,346-crore 9-km stretch of 14-lane highway.
To decongest Delhi-NCR and with the continuous increase in high-speed traffic along with problems of traffic jams and rising levels of pollution, the project of Delhi-Meerut Expressway has been constructed at a cost of Rs 8,346 crore in Uttar Pradesh and Delhi.