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Mohali: Greenfield project set to take off on December 1
The project, aimed at decongesting Airport Road by providing an alternative route for traffic heading towards Punjab, Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir, had earlier missed its June and September deadlines this year
After missing two deadlines, the much-awaited Greenfield Project in Mohali is finally set to open for the public on December 1.
The project, aimed at decongesting Airport Road by providing an alternative route for traffic heading towards Punjab, Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir, had earlier missed its June and September deadlines this year.
Executed under the central government’s Bharatmala Pariyojana at a cost of ₹1,400 crore, the road runs from IT Chowk in Mohali to the Kurali-Chandigarh Road through the outskirts of Mohali city.
The 31-km road will include toll at one location, with the rates yet to be decided.
According to an official from the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), which is executing the project, the work related to shifting high-tension electricity lines is currently underway and is expected to be completed within a week.
“We will open the project to the public on December 1. Only some ancillary work such as road markings and finishing touches are going one,which will be completed within 10 days,” the official said.
A senior NHAI official confirmed that most of the work had been completed, but some finishing work remains. “The original deadlines were missed due to heavy rains and floods in the region earlier this year,” the official added.
Work on the project was initiated in October 2022 by a Maharashtra-based company and has been completed in over three years.
The NHAI had conceived the Greenfield Project after scrapping the 40-km Kharar-Banur-Tepla Road Project in July 2019, citing its high cost.
Gaurav Kansal, director of KBP Group, Mohali, whose township is located along the new road, said it will serve as a major arterial road for the region. “The Greenfield Project will become the lifeline of Chandigarh and Mohali by significantly easing traffic congestion. It will also benefit commuters from Himachal Pradesh and Jammu, who will no longer need to travel via Ludhiana,” he said.
In 2021, the project faced an eight-month delay when landowners protested against the compensation rates offered for their land. Subsequently, the NHAI approved a four-fold increase in compensation. While the earlier rates ranged between ₹24 lakh and ₹4.18 crore per acre depending on location, landowners who were initially offered ₹24 lakh per acre are now receiving between ₹1 crore and ₹1.09 crore per acre.
