Zirakpur: Singhpura underpass hanging fire, NHAI wants 3 more months

Gaurav Kanthwal

Zirakpur, April 24

It may take over three to four months before the Vehicular Underpass (VUP) at Singhpura on the Chandigarh-Ambala National Highway gets operational. Till then, road users on this stretch would have to face snarls and traffic jams on a daily basis, as they have been for months. At present, the construction work at the site has come to a standstill. No activity has been going on in the area for over three to four months.

The National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) has drawn the flak for the delay in the construction work here since November 2022. The two VUP projects, at a cost of Rs 42.8 crore, on this stretch have missed multiple deadlines.

While the VUP on the Dera Bassi-Chandigarh side has been completed, the Chandigarh-Ambala side of the National Highway looks nowhere in sight to be completed anytime soon.

“Height of inefficiency,” said Jagbir Singh, a Maya Garden resident, giving his verdict on NHAI.

“It may take three more months to complete the other side of the Singhpura VUP. Last month, a Supreme Court order gave us possession of a chunk of land where an L-shaped hurdle creates a choke point. The drainage work will begin soon, after which service lanes will be laid. After that, the ramp will be laid over the VUP,” said a top NHAI official, shy away from being named.

“Even if it is completed in the next six months, it would be great,” said a traffic cop.

Mohali SP (Traffic) Harinder Singh Mann said, “We are also waiting to see the project getting completed. It would be a great relief to all.”

While the woes of one unfinished VUP are not over yet, questions are being raised over the construction of the next project at Bhankharpur.

Residents have made it known to the NHAI and the administration about the “unsuitable location of the proposed construction of an underpass” near Bhankharpur on the Chandigarh-Ambala National Highway.

Residents’ Woes

Residents complained that the location of the proposed underpass is far away from the habitation near the Ghaggar Bridge. The villagers alleged that this underpass was being built far ahead of the traffic lights on the Zirakpur side, which would not benefit the locals. As a result, it will not be of much use to them.