Two proposals received on shorter route to Chandigarh Airport: Centre tells high court

The Centre on Tuesday told Punjab and Haryana high court that it has received two proposals on construction of a shorter route between the city and Chandigarh International Airport

The Centre on Tuesday told Punjab and Haryana high court that it has received two proposals on construction of a shorter route between the city and Chandigarh International Airport.

As per Chandigarh, it had been agreed to construct a road to the airport from Sector 48, which will serve as an alternative and shorter route from the city. (Representative image)

The high court was hearing a December 2015 public interest litigation (PIL), where Mohali Industries Association had approached court alleging lack of facilities at the airport. Since then, HC has been monitoring the progress of various projects.

The Centre told HC that a decision on the proposals submitted will be taken within 45 days. It also informed that work on the installation of CAT-IIB, an instrument landing system to guide aircraft in low visibility, has been initiated.

After holding meeting between various stakeholders in Mohali and Chandigarh, UT had zeroed in on two probable routes and proposal was sent to Centre. As per UT, it had been agreed to construct a road to the airport from Sector 48, which will serve as an alternative and shorter route from Chandigarh.

The new road is planned to start from the T-point intersection of Vikas Marg (coming from Sector-43 ISBT) and Purv Marg (coming from Tribune Chowk). Further, as the road will proceed further from the junction, the administration has proposed two options -- one comprises constructing an underpass, which goes under the runway and opens on the other end; and in the second option, the road will run parallel to the airport boundary wall. The administration is favouring the underpass option as it is straighter and shorter, saving more time for travel. However, due to security reasons, all agencies are not on board on this route.

The current distance from this intersection to the airport is 14 km after traversing through Mohali. It will be reduced to 3 to 5 km after the road is completed. The project will require acquisition of land in both Punjab and Chandigarh.