Chandigarh administrator gives green light to Phase I of Metro

This route will include three corridors: Corridor 1 from Sultanpur, New Chandigarh in Mohali to Sector 28 in Panchkula (34 km), Corridor 2 from Sukhna Lake to ISBT Zirakpur via ISBT Mohali and Chandigarh Airport (41.20 km), and Corridor 3 starting from Grain Market Chowk (Sector 39) to Transport Light Chowk, Sector 26 (13.30 km).

They also plan to have places for trains to enter and exit these routes, totaling 2.50 km.

Representatives from Chandigarh, Punjab, Haryana, and Himachal attended this Unified Metropolitan Transport Meeting (UMTM) on Chandigarh’s MRT Network Expansion held at the Sector 9 Secretariat. RITES recommended a Mass Rapid Transit Network of approximately 154.5 km in two phases for the Tri-City in its Comprehensive Mobility Plan (CMP). The meeting agreed to expand the first phase from 79.5 km to 91 km.

The meeting paid special attention to choosing the best spots for train depots. A smaller group, called a subcommittee, was set up to check if these locations would work well in each state. The officers also discussed whether the Metro routes should be above the ground (elevated) or below it (underground). A senior officer said, “The UMTA finalized proposals for both elevated and underground corridors. These would be submitted to the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (Mohua), Government of India, along with their respective pros, cons, and financial implications.”

On December 13, Banwarilal Purohit confirmed that he’s serious about getting the Metro running in Chandigarh while he’s in charge, saying, ‘I’ll make sure Chandigarh gets a Metro, no matter what it takes.”

Not everyone is excited about having a Metro in the city. A former councillor and architect Pallav Mukherjee said the Metro will prove counter-productive by adding to the traffic on the roads and at business centres. He said developed nations have already realised the importance or building small satellite hubs around major cities instead of crowding the already congested cities.

There are also fears that it will ruin the essential characteristic of the city.