Baghpat, May 27: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday inaugurated the Eastern Peripheral Expressway (EPE), also referred to Kundli-Ghaziabad-Palwal Highway. The Rs 11,000-crore project marks the first green highway of the nation, being lit completely using the solar power.

Covering a distance of 135-km, the expressway will allow commuters to avoid entering Delhi-NCR region while travelling from as far as Himachal Pradesh to Rajasthan and vice versa. The project is also termed as 'eco-friendly' as 50,000 trees have been planted on either side of the highway throughout the route.

"The Eastern Peripheral Expressway (EPE) is India's first green expressway. This will decongest Delhi-NCR, apart from drastically reducing the time taken for connecting different cities of this region," PM Modi said.

In his public address after inaugurating the project, the Prime Minister roasted the Opposition, accusing it of "ridiculing" all development projects in the nation.

"If your (Opposition's) enemy is Modi, I can understand. But if your enemy is development, then the people of India will not forgive you. I want to ask the Congress why they want to create obstacles while we want to provide top-level infrastructure to the common people," Modi said.

"Congress should understand the dynasty days are over. Gone are the days when one family and their associates reaped all the benefits. For Modi, the entire nation is his family," the Prime Minister added.

Modi also heaped praises on the government of Yogi Adityanath in Uttar Pradesh, crediting it for the "reduction of crimes" in the state. "Criminals are in a state of fear. They are surrendering themselves," Modi claimed.

Earlier in the day, the PM inaugurated the phase-I of Delhi-Meerut Expressway, which connects the Nizamuddin Bridge to the UP Border. The 9-km stretch is expected to decongest the national capital of the traffic from Ghaziabad and Noida.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on May 27, 2018 02:23 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).