Chandigarh MP Manish Tewari bats for mass rapid transit system

MP and former Union Minister Manish Tewari has emphasised the urgent need for major fundamental structural changes in the city to make business activities more efficient and profitable.

“The current governance model of Chandigarh is unviable, ossified, redundant and unsustainable to meet the aspirations of its residents. There should be a properly empowered Mayor in Council, directly elected by all electors of Chandigarh for a five-year term. The Mayor in Council must have control over all subjects, except for land, public order and police,” he said while addressing an event organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) today.

Tewari said several administrative reforms were required in Chandigarh and that he had been consistently voicing these demands both inside and outside parliament.

He said an integrated mass rapid transit system (MRTS) connecting Chandigarh with its adjoining cities of Mohali, Panchkula and New Chandigarh must be established, along with granting Point of Call status to the Chandigarh airport to enable more international flights from the region.

He recalled that during his tenure as the MP from Anandpur Sahib, he had written to Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari in November 2019 urging for the establishment of the MRTS Chandigarh linking it with Ambala, Panchkula, Mohali, New Chandigarh and Kurali.

Tewari stressed that the proposed transport system would not only make intra-city transportation easier, but also enhance regional business connectivity. However, he lamented, the Central Government was not paying due attention to the issue, while the Punjab and Haryana governments and the Chandigarh Administration currently lacked the capacity to undertake such a major project independently. He said the Centre must take the initiative as a 100% Centre-funded project, as it was a pressing need of the hour.

Tewari said many domestic airlines operating from Chandigarh also fly to international destinations and there was no restriction on them to increase their operations. However, granting a Point of Call status would open up many more global routes from the airport as foreign airlines would be able to operate to and fro the Mohali-based airport. He said he had been repeatedly raising this demand with the Central Government since 2019, but due to pressure from mega airport operators it was being subverted as they do not want regional aviation hubs to develop.