Zirakpur ring road project hanging fire for eight years

The construction of a ring road, which was to decongest Zirakpur by providing an alternative route to the traffic moving between Delhi and Shimla, has been further delayed

The construction of a ring road, which was to decongest Zirakpur by providing an alternative route to the traffic moving between Delhi and Shimla, has been further delayed.

It was in 2013 that the work on the Zirakpur ring road started, but it came to a halt in February 2014.

Even though, two years back, the Greater Mohali Area Development Authority (GMADA) transferred around 100 acres of land to the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), but the latter is yet to give approval to the ₹800-crore project.

The 14-kilometre road, which will be 200-foot wide with six lanes, will originate from McDonald’s on the Ambala-Zirakpur highway, will pass through Peer Muchalla, Sanoli, Gazipur, Nagla (all Mohali villages), and then join the Sector 26/27 dividing road in Panchkula.

RP Singh, regional officer, NHAI, said: “We are yet to get the approval from the higher authorities for the project. Once, we get the approval, then only we will start the land acquisition process.”

It was in 2013 that the work on the project had started, but it came to a halt in February 2014 when some of the landowners went to court seeking higher compensation.

Once the road is complete, the Shimla-bound traffic can take this road, bypass the bottleneck met at Zirakpur, and join the Shimla highway at the Panchkula end. Similarly, Ambala or Delhi-bound traffic from Shimla can also avoid Zirakpur.

The road will also open an alternative route from Panchkula to the airport and help avoid the Chandigarh traffic, but it will be much longer than the existing route via Chandigarh and Mohali. Chandigarh’s Master Plan also proposes this road to divert the interstate traffic around the city for better traffic management.

According to the Master Plan committee, traffic between Mullanpur and Panchkula, and that from Kansal, Zirakpur and Panchkula, goes towards Chandigarh for “no reason”. Hence, the project will help significantly reduce traffic congestion on the arterial roads of Chandigarh — Madhya Marg and Dakshin Marg.

In August 2017, the then Union home minister Rajnath Singh had approved the project during a meeting of the Northern Zonal Council in Chandigarh.