Work on Zirakpur ring road starts again

The 5.75-km road originates from the Sector 20-21 dividing road in Panchkula, will pass through Peer Mushalla, Sanoli, Gazipur, Nagla village and then join the Chandigarh-Ambala Highway near the Ghaggar bridge. It is expected to be completed by mid-2016.

Work was started in 2013, but came to a halt in February 2014, when some of the landowners went to court, seeking higher compensation.

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Speaking to Newsline, Chief Administrator of Greater Mohali Area Development Authority (GMADA) S K Sinha said, “It will take another 11 months to complete the road, 75 pc of the work is over. Currently, the authority is acquiring land at Nagla village where construction was stalled due to litigation. We have received the necessary clearances and the project is under way.”

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

The road will also open an alternative route from Panchkula to the new international airport terminal in Mohali, but it will be much longer than the existing route via Industrial Area, the Zirakpur-Chandigarh road, Sector 48 of Chandigarh, through Aerocity and IT City in Mohali. However, the new route will avoid the traffic of Chandigarh.

GMADA is also constructing a new road from Sector 65, Mohali, through Kambali village to the international airport, which will benefit Chandigarh residents by providing a shorter route. It is expected to be completed by the end of the year.