Tribune flyover gets final nod

Ramkrishan Upadhyay

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, January 21

Two years after being announced, the Tribune flyover project has got the final nod with the Standing Finance Committee of the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways approving Rs 386 crore for the construction of the first such project in the city at the Tribune roundabout.

Sources said the approval for the project came at a high-level meeting of the committee, chaired by the Secretary in the ministry, in New Delhi today. The committee is the highest decision-making body of the ministry, which approves all its major projects.

Yudhvir Singh Malik, Secretary in the ministry, confirmed the development. He said in the initial phase, the Tribune flyover had been approved. The decision of the committee would be sent to the Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways, Nitin Gadkari, for formal approval, which was just a formality.

The Chandigarh Administration will float tenders after receiving approval from the ministry. The total cost of the project will be borne by the ministry. With the approval of funds, the project is likely to see the light of day soon. Gadkari had announced the project during his visit to the city in 2016 after the demand was raised by local MP Kirron Kher. In the initial plan, the flyover had been planned from a distance of 300 metres before the GMCH roundabout to Zirakpur, but later the ministry curtailed the project due to its high estimated cost of around Rs 800 crore.

A Mumbai-based consultant, Stup Constructions, was asked to prepare a revised detailed project report after the ministry asked the UT Administration to construct the flyover in two phases. The UT curtailed the length of the flyover, which will reduce its cost. The project was conceived to ease the flow of traffic on the congested Dakshin Marg, especially the Tribune roundabout. Around 1.43 lakh vehicles cross the rotary every day.

Project to be completed in two phases      

The first flyover project of the city at the Tribune roundabout will now be completed in two phases. In the first phase, the flyover will be constructed from a distance of 300 metres before the GMCH roundabout towards Tribune Chowk and will descend before the railway overbridge. In the second phase, it will connect Chandigarh with the Zirakpur flyover. An elevated road has also been proposed from Chandigarh to Zirakpur.