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UT adviser seeks report on shorter route to airport from Chandigarh
The UT adviser has given 10-day time to the committee, which will submit its report after field study and assessing ground situation; currently, Chandigarh residents have to take about 14km detour via Mohali to reach the airport
UT adviser Dharam Pal on Tuesday directed the deputy commissioner and chief engineer to submit a report on an alternative shorter route to the international airport from Chandigarh.
The adviser has given 10-day time to the committee, which will submit its report after field study and assessing the ground situation.
Pal said, “We will discuss the report with other stakeholders, including Punjab and Haryana, if the land required for shorter route falls under their jurisdictions.”
Currently, Chandigarh residents have to take about 14km detour via Mohali to reach the airport.
Before the construction of new international airport, the distance from Tribune Chowk to the previous terminal was 2.7km. Now, people have to travel 14.52km from the Tribune Chowk to reach the airport.
In the Chandigarh Master Plan 2031, another proposal of road connectivity to the airport has been given from Sector 48 (Purv Marg) through Jagatpura village, which will be about 4.7km from Tribune Chowk, thereby reducing the distance by 10km.
The UT administration’s proposal to construct a tunnel for an alternative shorter route to the airport in Mohali was junked in the Northern Zonal Council meeting held in September 2019.
The administration was pitching for the Centre’s help and contributions from Haryana and Punjab to construct the ₹1,200-crore underground tunnel connecting Chandigarh directly to the new airport terminal in Mohali.
The proposed route was to cut down the distance for people commuting to the airport from Chandigarh and Panchkula by 10km. But both Haryana and Punjab hadn’t supported the proposal. This was also not agreed upon by the Indian Air Force authorities.
‘Simplify estates policies’
In a meeting to review the functioning of the UT estate office on Tuesday, Dharam Pal stressed on resolving the issues pending at the level of Chandigarh administration at the earliest and further directed to follow up with the ministry of home affairs regarding the pending issues.
Some important issues such as conversion of leasehold to freehold properties in case of commercial and industrial plots, review of fee for additional FAR to educational, social, religious and cultural institutions, renewal of lease of LPG godown and petrol pump sites and misuse/building violation charges were discussed in the meeting.
