Punjab, Haryana agree to complete ring road

Ramkrishan Upadhyay

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, September 20

In a step that will help ease the traffic problem in the city, the governments of Punjab and Haryana have agreed to complete the inner ring road by connecting the missing links at two places.

Sources said information in this regard was given during a meeting of the Northern Zonal Council held today, which was chaired by Union Home Minister Amit Shah. Besides the ring road, the two states also agreed on the UT agenda to help preserve Sukhna Lake. They also agreed on the proposal to reduce patient burden at the PGI. The UT has maintained that the influx of patients at the PGI has increased by 31.33 per cent over the years. Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar, Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh, Punjab Governor and UT Administrator VP Singh Badnore, Chief Ministers of Rajasthan and HP, Governor of J&K, Lieutenant Governor of the NCT, Delhi, and various ministers from these states attended the meeting.

The UT raised the issue of the missing links of the inner ring road. Badnore stressed the need for early construction of the outer ring road and the Mass Rapid Transit System.

Haryana agreed to provide a shorter approach to the ring road from the Panchkula side and construct a bridge over the Ghaggar to link the Sector 24/26 and 20/21 roads. A 700-m stretch of the road connecting Sector 24 and 28 falling in Punjab will also be constructed. Haryana has asked the UT Administration to prepare a detailed project report of the outer ring road, which will be submitted to the Centre.

No consensus on renaming airport

No consensus was reached on renaming the international airport as Haryana and Punjab stuck to their stands. Punjab wanted to rechristen the airport as ‘Shaheed-e-Azam Sardar Bhagat Singh International Airport, Mohali’, as recommended by it in the Vidhan Sabha. Haryana, on the other hand, requested to name the airport as ‘Shaheed Bhagat Singh International Airport, Chandigarh’. It was then decided to keep the matter pending for another meet. 

Tunnel project dumped 

• The underground tunnel project for an alternative route to the Chandigarh international airport in Mohali has been dumped due to its high cost 
• The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation had conducted a techno-economic feasibility of an alternative route to the airport, projecting its cots at Rs 1,200 crore
• Though Haryana demanded that the total cost may be shared by Chandigarh and Punjab, the Punjab Government termed the project unviable 
• Sources said Union Home Minister Amit Shah also found the project costly and directed the states to explore another alternative route to the airport
• The project would have reduced the distance from the city to the airport by 10 km. The length of the project was 6.41 km, including 1.88 km underground