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Chandigarh: Metro plan casts shadow on PGI-Sarangpur flyover
The 32-km Metro corridor between Paroul, New Chandigarh, and Sector 28, Panchkula, comprises the PGIMER-Sarangpur stretch, where a 1.75 km flyover has been proposed
Revived in September last year, the PGIMER-Sarangpur flyover project is again in limbo owing to a Metro corridor planned on the same route.
The tricity Metro plan comprises three corridors as part of Phase 1, criss-crossing through Chandigarh, Mohali and Panchkula.
Among them, the 32-km corridor between Paroul, New Chandigarh, and Sector 28, Panchkula, comprises the PGIMER-Sarangpur stretch, where a 1.75 km flyover has been proposed.
However, work on the flyover cannot begin until the central government decides on whether the Metro infrastructure on the corridor will be elevated or underground.
Proposed in 2020, the 1.75-km flyover, including a 1.3-km elevated stretch, was to come up at a cost of around ₹90 crore. The planned width of the flyover is around 19.1 metres and the carriageway width will be 17.5 metres.
The four-lane elevated road is aimed at hassle-free traffic movement from PGIMER towards Mullanpur, Sarangpur and Baddi in Himachal Pradesh. By alleviating traffic woes and enhancing connectivity, it will benefit both commuters and the area’s growing number of institutions.
It’s proposed to start from near PGIMER and end near the Botanical Garden in Sarangpur, where numerous projects are coming up, including the extension campus of PGIMER, after crossing over Khuda Jassu and Khuda Lahora villages.
The project was temporarily shelved due to the Covid-19 pandemic. But the UT administration again decided to proceed with it in September last year, with plans to launch work in April this year. The UT engineering department had even hired consultants to draft a feasibility report for the project and conducted a geotechnical study of the project area.
UT chief engineer CB Ojha, “The fate of the flyover depends on whether the Metro stations and tracks will be elevated or underground. So, we have to wait for the finalisation of the Metro plan.”
The UT administration is pursuing a fully underground Metro network in Chandigarh, considering the impact of an elevated network on the city’s aesthetic landscape.
As per the current plan, of the total 20 km network proposed in Chandigarh, approximately 8 km is elevated.
However, opting for underground corridors is projected to increase the expenditure by nearly ₹8,000 crore, bringing the total project outlay to around ₹19,000 crore.
UT officials are working on a detailed report on requirement of an underground network that will be submitted to the Union ministry of housing and urban affairs for approval.
