Zirakpur-Panchkula bypass stuck in red tape

Seven months after getting the Prime Minister-chaired Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs’ approval, the Rs 1,878-crore Zirakpur–Panchkula Bypass remains knotted in red tape, with the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) and the Forest Department locked in a blame game over why the crucial Stage-2 forest clearance is still pending.

The delay has pushed the project back once again, forcing repeated extensions of the bidding deadline and leaving the Tricity’s biggest decongestion intervention stuck on paper.

As per the latest amendment issued by NHAI’s Punjab Division, the last date for online submission of bids has now been pushed to 11 am on December 20, while the technical bids will be opened on December 22.

The bypass, meant to pull heavy, inter-state and local traffic out of the chronically choked NH-5 and NH-7 stretch through Zirakpur and Panchkula, had secured Stage-1 forest approval from the Centre on July 31. However, the mandatory final Stage-2 approval — without which NHAI cannot open bids, award work or begin construction — remains elusive, despite the project forming a key component of the PM Gati Shakti National Master Plan.

The Forest Department has contended that the delay stems from pending compliance requirements that NHAI has yet to fulfil. A senior official told The Tribune that forest clearances are issued in two stages and the Union government granted in-principle (Stage-1) approval on July 31, 2025. “After this, the user agency, in this case NHAI, must complete all compliance conditions and upload the report on the Centre’s portal. While compensatory levies have been deposited, certain other formalities such as NoCs, undertakings and the submission of ACA plantation details are still ongoing. the NHAI has to liaise with the concerned DFO to complete these. As soon as they do so, the case will be forwarded to the Government of India for grant of final approval,” the official said.

The NHAI has strongly disputed this version, asserting that it has completed every requirement long ago and that the file is stuck with the Forest Department. A senior authority official said: “We have completed all formalities and met all conditions mandated in the Stage-1 approval long ago, but Stage-2 approval is still pending with the Forest Department for reasons best known to them, despite our repeated reminders. We are constrained to extend the bidding deadline again and again solely because Stage-2 is the only clearance that allows us to open bids, award the project and start work.”

The impasse has again pushed back timelines for the bypass, which was conceived over a decade ago and for which land acquisition was completed as far back as 2020. Stretching 19.2 km from the Zirakpur-Patiala junction on NH-7 to the Zirakpur-Parwanoo junction on NH-5, the six-lane road includes a 6.195-km elevated section, five flyovers, one vehicular underpass, nine light vehicular underpasses, a major and a minor bridge, and a railway overbridge.

It is designed to take through traffic away from the saturated Zirakpur lights, the Airport Road entry, and the Panchkula gateway while linking seamlessly with Sectors 24 and 25 and improving onward connectivity to Himachal Pradesh.

Despite its strategic importance and repeated assurances from the Centre, the project continues to slip, with officials now expecting the work to be awarded only by early 2026 and construction unlikely to begin before March-April 2026 — provided the forest clearance arrives without further delay.

As the file moves back and forth, the Tricity continues to grapple with daily gridlocks, rising pollution and stalled mobility improvements, even as one of its most crucial infrastructure projects remains entangled in bureaucratic loops.

PROJECT DETAILS

Cost: Rs 1,878.31 crore

Length: 19.2 km (6.195 km elevated)

Land acquisition: Completed 2020

Mode: Hybrid Annuity Mode

Forest land diverted: 17.57 hectares

Stage-1 approval: July 31, 2025

Stage-2 clearance: Pending

Bid deadline: Extended five times since July 2025

Likely work award: Early 2026

Likely construction start: March-April 2026

Expected completion: 2028

WHY IT MATTERS

Aimed at decongestiing worst choked NH-5/NH-7 overlap at Zirakpur.

Key link in the Tricity’s proposed ring road.

Reduces travel time, pollution and accident risk.

Facilitates smoother movement to HP, Ambala, Airport and Panchkula.

Stuck for over 10 years due to procedural clearances and inter-departmental delays.