Chandigarh heritage committee to take call on PGI-Sarangpur flyover

The Chandigarh Heritage Conservation Committee (CHCC) will take a final call on the construction of the proposed flyover from the PGIMER to Sarangpur.

According to officials, the UT Administration will send the proposal to the committee for approval.

The UT Road Safety Committee had recently recommended the construction of a flyover from the PGIMER till the Botanical Garden in Sarangpur to overcome frequent bottlenecks on the stretch, especially during rush hours.

The committee had identified five high-congestion zones in the UT, and termed the Khuda Lahora road the most critical choking point.

According to the committee, the bridge road leading to Khuda Lahora and Khuda Jassu witnesses frequent traffic jams caused by pedestrians in absence of footpaths, school-related parking, encroachments and poor drainage. Auto-rickshaws stopping in the middle of the road to pick up and drop off passengers and vehicles taking U-turns at sharp cuts further hinder the flow of traffic.

To ease the congestion, the committee proposed certain measures, including the construction of a flyover from the bridge at Khuda Jassu near the PGIMER to the Botanical Garden, creation of footpaths by shifting the school boundary wall, immediate removal of encroachments and widening of the existing road to 200 ft for the traffic heading towards Mullanpur.

Initially proposed in 2020, the 1.75-km flyover, encompassing a 1.3-km elevated stretch, was temporarily shelved due to Covid.

Officials said after getting approval of the heritage committee, various clearances, including environmental, would be obtained before finalising the design and cost of the project. The estimated cost of the elevated road was Rs 90 crore, with a planned width of around 19.1 m and a carriageway width of 17.5 m. The Engineering Department’s original plan outlined the construction of a 1.75-km road, including a 1.3-km flyover, effectively bypassing traffic bottlenecks at Khuda Jassu and Khuda Lahora villages. The four-lane elevated road is designed to provide congestion-free transit for those commuting to New Chandigarh and Baddi in Himachal Pradesh and vice versa. Additionally, it will streamline travel to the Sarangpur institutional area, where numerous projects are coming up, including the extension campus of the PGIMER.