National Highway 21— the road unknown

Ramkrishan Upadhyay

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, May  20    

There’s a twist to the controversy surrounding the status of National Highway-21. With the Engineering Department failing to provide a copy of the  notification declaring that the highway is passing through Tribune Chowk via Sectors 35 and 43 to Mohali, the status of the road is in question.

Sources said in its reply, the office  of the  SDE CP  division  number 2 had stated that no such notification as demanded  by  applicant Rakesh, a resident of Sector 25, regarding the NH-21  starting  from Junction  38 (Tribune  Chowk) 37, 38, 35, 34, 49  and  59 (touching Vikas Marg) was available  in the office. Rakesh’s application was sent by the Superintending Engineer-cum-CPIO  office  of the  Chief  Engineer, Administration,  to the  SDE  for  providing the information.

Earlier, the map provided by the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) also differed from the Chandigarh Administration’s claim that the NH-21 was going from Tribune Chowk via Sectors 35 and 43 to Mohali. Sources said the map provided by NHAI under the Right to Information Act showed that the NH-21 was passing from Tribune Chowk to Junction 53 from the Industrial Area up to the Mohali check-post and further went from Junctions 62, 61, 60, 59 and the roundabout of Sector 39 to Mohali.  However, the Engineering  Department  contested  the  map and claimed that it had been withdrawn.  Gurinder Juneja, secretary, Hotel and Restaurant Association, said as  the Engineering Department had failed to provide the notification  under the RTI Act, their doubt that the Administration had never notified the route as a national highway according to the National Highway Act 1956 had turned out to be true.  He  said due to  this more than 50  hotels were on the verge of closure after  the Administration denied the permission to serve liquor to hotels and the  restaurants situated  along the road. He said now the Administration should take  a sympathetic view  to save the  hotels.  

Mukesh Anand, Chief Engineer, could not  be contacted. However, an official  said the department  had got funds for its maintenance from NHAI this year also.