The Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved an infrastructure project for the doubling of the 104 km-long Tirupati–Pakala–Katpadi single railway line section in Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu. Along with this, it also approved the construction of the six-lane Zirakpur Bypass in an effort to decongest Zirakpur in Punjab and Panchkula in Haryana, which is part of the larger ring road project, the government said. A project under the Railway Ministry, the doubling of the railway line will approximately cost Rs 1,332 crore and cover a total of three districts in Andhra Pradesh (Chittoor, Tirupati) and one in Tamil Nadu (Vellore), a government statement said, adding that the project will increase the existing Railway network by about 113 km track length. With the connectivity to Tirupati Balaji Temple, Srikalahasti Temple and Chandragiri Fort, it will support the agricultural economy of Rayalaseema region and facilitate growth of electronics, cement, and steel industries of Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Kerala. The educational and medical hubs — Vellore and Tirupati — are also expected to be benefited by the project. The government is implementing a series of road projects for the decongestion of Chandigarh, Panchkula and Mohali urban agglomeration, which will take the shape of a ring road. The Zirakpur bypass is an important component of this plan. As per the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH), the total length of the bypass will be 19.2 km which will be constructed at a cost of Rs 1,878 crore over two years. Zirakpur is a planned satellite city of Chandigarh in Punjab. The bypass will start from the junction with NH-7 (Chandigarh-Bathinda) in Zirakpur and terminate at the junction with NH-5 (Zirakpur-Parwanoo) in Panchkula of Haryana. The alignment will help avoid the congested stretch of Zirakpur in Punjab and Panchkula in Haryana. The existing overlapping four-lane portion of NH-5 and NH-7 passes through the urbanised areas of Zirakpur and Panchkula. The Ministry said that the new six-lane bypass will also improve connectivity to Himachal Pradesh. “The primary purpose 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 Pradesh,” the ministry said in a release.
