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Punjab CM dedicates Kharar flyover to citizens
With the third phase of the corridor project, from the Sector-39 roundabout in Chandigarh to Khanpur, opening on December 28, the work is now 96% complete.
Punjab chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Thursday dedicated the Chandigarh-Kharar elevated corridor to the citizens as a New Year gift, saying it was the fulfilment of a long pending need of the region to ease traffic congestion on the route.
With the third phase of the corridor project, from the Sector-39 roundabout in Chandigarh to Khanpur, opening on December 28, the work is now 96% complete. The road at Khanpur is expected to be completed by mid January 2021.
The highway is critically important as it connects Chandigarh to parts of Punjab, besides Jammu and Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh.
Kharar used to earlier be a major traffic bottleneck as 50,000 vehicles were crossing the stretch on an average before the lockdown.
The CM on the occasion also congratulated the civil administration for ensuring peaceful acquisition of land and resettlement of land owners, praising the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) for completing the project, often delayed due to what he said were bottlenecks created during the previous Shiromani Akali Dal-Bharatiya Janata Party rule.
Govt inherited ‘messy legacy’
Capt Amarinder Singh said when his government took over, it inherited the messy legacy of the erstwhile regime. Traffic was not diverted, high tension wires were not removed by the Electricity Board and acquired structures not vacated by land owners due to non-payment of land compensation amount, along with multiple court cases and stay orders.
Notably, the project was started on June 9, 2016, and the first phase from the Sector-39 roundabout-Verka Chowk to Balongi Underpass was opened on September 25, 2020; the second phase (Desu Majra to Khanpur) towards Ludhiana on December 12, 2020, followed by the third phase from Daun to Desumajra on December 28, 2020.
Later, in an informal interaction with the media, the CM thanked Union minister for road transport and highways Nitin Gadkari for undertaking the national highway project in Punjab.
Rs 27 crore sanctioned for Landran project
On other such projects, Capt Amarinder Singh said the Katra-Delhi 16-lane expressway and other projects were in the pipeline with the land acquisition process underway. He also said Rs 27 crore had been sanctioned for the project at Landran.
Earlier, speaking at the event, Punjab cabinet minister and Mohali MLA Balbir Singh Sidhu said the Chandigarh to Khanpur project comprising a 3.2 km long, six-lane elevated corridor supported over a single pier, with three underpasses (Balongi, Daun and Airport Road), and major interchange at Khanpur connecting to Ludhiana and Ropar road would bring to an end the frequent traffic snarls. Commuters travelling daily to and from the tricity would benefit the most, he added.
Those present at the inauguration included Jagmohan Singh Kang, chairman market committee, Kharar; inspector general, Ropar Range, Amit Prasad, additional deputy general, Mohali, Aashika Jain, and senior superintendent of police, Mohali Satinder Singh with subdivisional magistrate, Kharar, Himanshu Jain.
