National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) have asked a private party to develop a helipad near Dasna to provide the 60km-long stretch of the Delhi Meerut Expressway (DME) with the facility of an air ambulance in case of accidents or medical emergencies.
The facility will be functional in May, they added.
“We have roped in a private player who is developing a helipad near Dasna. This helipad will be used to operate a helicopter as an air ambulance in case of accidents or medical emergencies,” said Arvind Kumar, project director, NHAI.
“The service will be made available on charges. Anyone who wishes to use the helicopter as an air ambulance will have to take the patient to the helipad from where the patient can be airlifted to a healthcare facility,” Kumar added.
At present, the DME has the facility of ambulance service for medical intervention in case of emergencies.
“The private agency taking up the air ambulance project will get the necessary clearances, including the one from the ministry of civil aviation,” Kumar added.
The DME, a 14-lane project comprising a six-lane dedicated expressway with a speed limit of 100kmph, connects Delhi’s Sarai Kale Khan to Meerut’s Partapur. Forty kilometres of the stretch crosses Ghaziabad district. The DME was formally inaugurated by Union minister Nitin Gadkari in December 2021, but opened to commuters in April last year. Although the NHAI has finalised the toll rates, they are likely to be implemented after the end of the Uttar Pradesh assembly election on March 10 when the election code of conduct is lifted.
According to officials, the DME project is complete, but a part of the rail overbridge at Chipiyana in Ghaziabad is still under construction and likely to be ready in April. As part of the project, the NHAI has now started expanding the provision of facilities along the DME, including hotels and restaurants.
Dasna in Ghaziabad connects phase 2 of the DME to UP-Gate and is the beginning of phase 3, which connects Dasna to Hapur. Phase 2, 3 and 4 are estimated to witness the movement of about 100,000 passenger car units everyday. The DME was developed as a four-part project and its fifth newly proposed part will also link commuters to the Ganga Expressway to connect commuters from Meerut to Prayagraj.