Safe crossing: UT floats tenders for PGI-PU underpass

TNNChandigarh: Seven years after receiving approval and nearly a decade after it was first conceptualised, the long-pending pedestrian underpass connecting Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER) and Panjab University is finally set to take shape. The UT engineering department has floated tenders for the project, estimated at Rs 8.4 crore.Officials said bids would be opened on May 22, and construction is expected to begin in June. The plan is to make the project operational by the end of the current fiscal year. The underpass is aimed at providing a safe crossing across the busy Madhya Marg for nearly 10,000 students, patients and attendants who use the stretch daily.According to the project plan, the underpass will be around 14 metres wide and 32 metres long, making it wider than the existing Rose Garden underpass in Sector 17. Owing to space constraints, escalators will not be installed. Instead, the facility will be equipped with lifts and ramps to ensure accessibility for wheelchair users and elderly pedestrians.The revised design also includes 12 commercial booths, reduced from the originally proposed 20, to provide basic amenities such as photostat services and generate revenue. Granite flooring and LED city lighting have been proposed as part of the project.Before excavation work begins, the engineering department will undertake shifting of major sewer and stormwater pipelines passing through the site. In Nov 2019, the project received in-principle approval from then UT administrator V P Singh Badnore after the traffic police flagged the urgent need for a dedicated pedestrian passage between the hospital and the university. Thousands of patients and attendants from neighbouring states visit PGI every day for treatment.Last year, the Chandigarh Heritage Conservation Committee approved the amended design of the underpass after minor modifications. A joint site inspection involving officials of the MC, engineering department and other stakeholders was conducted to facilitate utility shifting and execution planning.MSID:: 130980415 413 |