The way for the metro project in Chandigarh, Panchkula and Mohali is clear, read the route map of the first phase here

The way for the Metro project in Panchkula and Mohali (Tricity) along with the capital Chandigarh is now completely clear. Along with Chandigarh, Haryana and Punjab have also agreed to join the project with some suggestions. In a high-level meeting chaired by Advisor to UT Administrator Dharampal on Wednesday, Principal Secretary Housing and Urban Development, Punjab suggested connecting Rajpura to NH-64/PR-7 junction.

CM gave suggestion regarding metro station

He also suggested to include MRTS routes from Padaul, New Chandigarh to Sarangpur, Chandigarh in Phase-I. The Punjab Government had also sent its comments regarding the CMP to the Chandigarh Administration, which have been suitably incorporated in the final CMP report after examination. Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal had recently suggested a metro station to connect Pinjore-Kalka with Chandigarh and Zirakpur.

MRTS was churning on the metro project

Due to the increasing pressure of traffic in the tricity, there was a churn on the Mass Rapid Transit System (MRTS) i.e. Metro project for many years. Officials of Chandigarh, Punjab, Haryana and other departments attended a high-level meeting chaired by Dharampal, Advisor to UT Administrator, on Wednesday where all the stakeholders agreed to the Metro project. The final Comprehensive Mobility Plan (CMP), incorporating suggestions from stakeholders, will now be sent to the Center for approval within a week.

Haryana Mass Rapid Transit Corporation (HMRTC) suggested that the corridor from Shaheed Udham Singh Chowk (ISBT Panchkula) to Panchkula Extension be included in Phase-1 instead of Phase-2. He also suggested to modify the MRTS corridor to connect Sector-20 Panchkula.

Report will be sent to the Center in a week

Dharampal, advisor to the UT Administrator, directed RITES (Rail India Technical and Economic Services) to incorporate the suggestions of Punjab and Haryana in the final report. The final CMP report submitted by RITES on Wednesday was unanimously approved by all the stakeholders with these suggestions. The revised report will now be submitted by the Government of India within a week for further approval. Senior officials from Punjab, Haryana, Civil Aviation, Air Force Authority, Railway Authority and all other stakeholders participated in the meeting.

Instructions given to RITES to make DPR

Dharampal also directed RITES to start the work of preparation of Alternative Analysis Report (AAR) and Detailed Project Report (DPR) for MRTS in Chandigarh Tricity. RITES Company made a detailed presentation on all aspects of CMP on the occasion. It included approach and objectives of the study, existing traffic scenario of the city, problems and issues, short, medium and long term plans and proposals, citywide integrated multi-modal transport plan, institutional strengthening, comprehensive cost estimation etc.

Metro will run in two phases

Metro in Tricity is to be completed in two phases and all other works in three phases. The total cost of Metro is proposed to be Rs 7,680 crore. After Haryana's suggestion, many metro stations are likely to increase. This will also increase the cost of the metro project. On implementing all the suggestions of RITES, the central government, Chandigarh, Punjab and Haryana will spend about Rs 10,570 crore. In this, 60 percent money will be given by the Center and 40 percent by Chandigarh, Punjab and Haryana.

Manohar Lal recently suggested

Regarding the metro station, Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal had recently suggested to connect Pinjore-Kalka with Chandigarh and Zirakpur. Apart from this, Haryana has demanded to include it in the first phase. This suggestion has been included in the meeting held in Chandigarh on Wednesday. In this, in the first phase, it was suggested to connect important places like Punjab-Haryana Secretariat, Assembly, High Court, Airport.

Along with this, it has also been suggested to make a route from Housing Board Chowk to Punjab University and PGI as thousands of people go to PGI daily for their work. Apart from this, it was suggested to include the Ghaggar river and new Panchkula areas in the expansion of the metro and to make an alternate route of the metro to improve the connectivity of the airport.

18 km track will be laid

An 18 km track will be laid from Anaj Mandi Chowk to Panchkula ISBT. According to the RITES report, it has been said to run the metro in two phases. In Phase-1, it is proposed to construct a track of about 18 kilometers from Anaj Mandi Chowk of Sector-26 to Panchkula ISBT (Budhanpur Chowk). ISBT-Sector 43 will have 20 kilometer track from ISBT to Zirakpur. After this, the second phase will start in which metro will run from ISBT Panchkula to Panchkula Extension for a distance of four and a half km and then from Airport Chowk to village Saneta.

Source: Chandigarh Ekhabar