Chandigarh: Four-lane ring road from Mullanpur to Baddi on the anvil

To decongest traffic, the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) is all set to construct a four-lane ring road from Majri Chowk in Mullanpur to Baddi in Himachal Pradesh via Siswan. At present, motorists have to go through a single road from Baddi to New Chandigarh to reach the PGIMER.
The 18-km stretch is a part of the ring road to be constructed around Chandigarh.
According to minutes of the meeting of the Unified Metropolitan Transport Authority held last month under the chairmanship of Punjab governor and UT administrator Gulab Chand Kataria, the project director of the NHAI gave a detailed presentation regarding the development of ring road around Chandigarh tricity area.
An official said the project was awaiting forest clearance from the Punjab government. Also, a detailed project report is being prepared.
The NHAI said the rapid development of Mohali, Zirakpur and Panchkula around Chandigarh has significantly increased traffic in the tricity area. Further, Derabassi, Kharar, Morinda, New Chandigarh, and Pinjore towns have also developed as suburbs to the tricity. To decongest the traffic and for the development of ring road around Chandigarh, tricity area, the NHAI has prepared a plan for development of the ring road. He said six projects are under execution stage and DPR for one project is under preparation. It was informed that part of the ring road around Chandigarh tricity connecting Baddi to New Chandigarh (Punjab) through Siswan was pending due to issues regarding forest clearance to be given by the government/ ministry of environment, forest and climate change.
He requested that the forest clearance related issues be resolved at the earliest so that the work on the pending part of the ring road could be started.
Zirakpur ring road project back on track
The NHAI has revived the Zirakpur ring road project, stalled 11 years ago, with a fresh plan, aiming to alleviate congestion in Chandigarh by providing an alternative route for Shimla-bound traffic from Ambala.
Work on the project had originally begun in 2013 but was halted in February 2014 when some landowners went to court, seeking higher compensation.
Once completed, Shimla-bound traffic will be able to take this road, bypassing the bottleneck at Zirakpur, and join the Shimla highway at the Panchkula end.
The road will also provide an alternative route from Panchkula to the new international airport terminal in Mohali, allowing traffic to avoid Chandigarh.