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SC directs NHAI to open Eastern Peripheral Expressway before May 31

The Supreme Court today directed the National Highways Authority Of India (NHAI) to ensure that the newly constructed Eastern Peripheral Expressway, which is aimed at decongesting Delhi, is inaugurated on or before May 31.

The apex court took exception to the 135-km Expressway, which envisages signal-free connectivity between Ghaziabad, Faridabad, Gautam Budh Nagar (Greater Noida) and Palwal, not being thrown open to the public despite being informed earlier that it would be inaugurated by April 20.

A bench comprising Justices Madan B Lokur and Deepak Gupta made it clear that if the Eastern Peripheral Expressway was not inaugurated on or before May 31, it would be thrown open for public use as the national capital was already under traffic distress.

The NHAI counsel told the court that the expressway was scheduled to be inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on April 29 but it could not be done due to his prior commitments.

The Eastern and Western Peripheral Expressways were planned in 2006 following the top court’s order to build a ring road outside the national capital for channelling non-Delhi bound traffic.

The counsel appearing for the Haryana government told the bench that 81 per cent work of the 135-km Western Peripheral Expressway was done and the private entity involved in the work had assured that construction would be completed by June 30 this year.

According to the timeline, work on the Western Peripheral Expressway, which connects Kundli to Palwal via Manesar in Haryana, was to be completed by February 2019 but the construction would be done by June this year, the counsel said.

The apex court had asked the Centre in 2005 to build a peripheral expressway around Delhi by July 2016 to decongest and “de-pollute” the national capital.

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Chhagan Bhujbal suffering from pancreatic ailment, says son

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Senior NCP leader Chhagan Bhujbal is suffering from a pancreatic ailment for which he would require further treatment and surgery, his son Pankaj Bhujbal said today.

Chhagan Bhujbal, granted bail in a money laundering case, was earlier this morning released from the civic-run KEM hospital here where he underwent treatment for nearly a week.

After the discharge, his son issued a statement saying, “My father is suffering from an ailment related to pancreas for the last two months. He was admitted to the J J Hospital and later to the KEM for treatment.”

“With the treatment and care from expert doctors at KEM, he is slightly better,” the NCP legislator said, adding that his father will require further treatment and surgery.

He said since Chhagan Bhujbal was away from his family for more than two years, he returned home today with the permission of doctors treating him.

As per doctors’ advise, he will again have to be admitted for treatment and surgery, the former deputy chief minister’s son said.

“I thank the KEM staff for looking after him and co-operating in this difficult period,” said Pankaj Bhujbal, the MLA from Nandgaon seat in Maharashtra’s Nashik district.

Bhujbal, 70, in jail since March 2016 in connection with the money laundering case, was granted bail on May 4 by the Bombay High Court after it took into consideration his old age and deteriorating health.

He was later admitted to the KEM hospital in Parel area after he was released from the Arthur Road Jail.

Bhujbal, who handled the Public Works Department in the Congress-NCP government, was arrested in March 2016 after the Enforcement Directorate found in an inquiry that he allegedly misused his office in awarding contracts for PWD projects, causing a loss to the exchequer.

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