Travel extra distance to reach new airport

Rajmeet Singh

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, September 3

The new terminal of the Chandigarh International Airport, scheduled to be inaugurated by the Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, on September 11, will be a mixed bag for passengers in the region.

While it will fulfil their long-pending demand for an international airport, they will have to cover extra distance to reach the new airport terminal building, located at Jheurheri village in Mohali.

A senior official said as the demand of the UT for a shorter access to the new terminal by constructing an underpass at the existing runway from the Chandigarh side had not been accepted by the Defence Ministry, passengers from the region would now have two options to reach the new terminal.

Taking the Tribune roundabout as the central point, one of the routes, which is 14 km long, will pass alongside Sectors 31, 47 and 48 in Chandigarh, and Sector 65 (Phase XI) in Mohali before taking a left turn from the traffic junction of the Indian School of Business (ISB) in Sector 81. The 200-foot-wide road will pass through Aerocity and IT City before hitting the new airport terminal.

The second route, which is 13.25 km long, will cater to those coming from the Zirakpur and Panchkula side. The passengers will follow the Zirakpur-Patiala road from the Zirakpur traffic junction and turn right towards the new international terminal at Chhat village.

“Another planned access from the Panchkula side will be extended to Zirakpur near Dyalpura on the Zirakpur-Patiala highway, addressing the demand of Haryana to have a shorter access from Panchkula. This will enable easy accessibility from all directions. It will be helpful as the airport will also serve the larger northern region, including Himachal Pradesh,” said sources in the Punjab Town and Country Planning Department.