Over six months after the Greater Mohali Area Development Authority (GMADA) cancelled the 14-acre site in Sector 77 for a new bus stand, it is now reconsidering it after failing to identify any other suitable land.
On January 2, GMADA had cancelled the site after finding it unviable for a bus stand, just two days after former Punjab local bodies minister Brahm Mohindra laid the project’s foundation stone on December 31, 2021.
Now, GMADA chief administrator Amandeep Bansal said, “We have yet to finalise any other site, so we are reconsidering the one in Sector 77. A proposal will be sent to the higher authorities for a final decision.”
When cancelling the site in January, GMADA had stated that a bus stand in Sector 77 will cause traffic gridlocks near the Airport Road.
On the other hand, during the foundation stone-laying ceremony of the bus stand, Brahm Mohindra had said due to its proximity to Airport Road, passengers will find it more convenient to travel to the Sector-43 Inter-State Bus Terminus (ISBT) in Chandigarh and to other cities from there.
In November last year, the then Punjab chief minister, Charanjit Singh Channi, had directed GMADA to finalise a new site for the ISBT near Gurdwara Singh Shaheedan in Sohana, where around 14 acres of land is lying vacant.
{{/usCountry}}In November last year, the then Punjab chief minister, Charanjit Singh Channi, had directed GMADA to finalise a new site for the ISBT near Gurdwara Singh Shaheedan in Sohana, where around 14 acres of land is lying vacant.
{{/usCountry}}Notably, Mohali already has the region’s first air-conditioned ISBT along the Chandigarh-Kharar highway in Phase 6. But 12 years after its inception, the bus terminal, which also houses a commercial complex, has become only partially operational due to corporate insolvency resolution process.
The demand for a new bus stand within the city was made by former Congress MLA Balbir Singh Sidhu, following which the CM had directed GMADA to finalise the site.