Himachal ahoy: Govt clears Rs 1878 crore, 19-km bypass for Panchkula & Zirakpur

NEW DELHI: In a bid to decongest Panchkula & Zirakpur (near Chandigarh) and create a traffic jam-free access to Himachal, PM Modi-led cabinet committee on economic affairs (CCEA) Wednesday approved construction of a six-lane Zirakpur bypass. The proposed link will start from junction with NH-7 (Zirakpur-Patiala) and end at junction with NH-5 (Zirakpur-Parwanoo) with a total length 19.2 km in Punjab and Haryana on hybrid annuity mode, Union minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said here after the CCEA. To be built under the PM Gatishakti National Master Plan principle, the project will cost Rs1878 crore.

“The Zirakpur bypass starts from junction with NH-7 (Chandigarh-Bathinda) in Zirakpur and follows the Punjab Govt master plan in Punjab and terminates at the junction with NH-5 (Zirakpur-Parwanoo) in Panchkula of Haryana, thus avoiding the highly urbanised and congested stretch of Zirakpur in Punjab and Panchkula in Haryana,” Vaishnaw said.

The main aim of the project is to ease congestion in Zirakpur, Panchkula and surrounding areas by diverting traffic from Patiala, Delhi, Mohali Aerocity and providing direct connectivity to Himachal. The current proposal aims at reducing the travel time and ensuring hassle-free traffic movement in the congested urban section of NH-7, NH-5 and NH-152.

“Govt has taken up decongestion of Chandigarh, Panchkula and Mohali urban agglomeration with the development of a road network which would take the shape of ring road as indicated in the map. The Zirakpur bypass is an important component of this plan,” Vaishnaw added.