The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs on Wednesday approved the construction of six-lane Zirakpur bypass starting from junction with NH-7 (Zirakpur-Patiala) and ending at junction with NH-5 (Zirakpur-Parwanoo) with a total length 19.2 Km in Punjab and Haryana under NH(O) on hybrid annuity mode with a significant step to facilitate integrated transport infrastructure development under the PM Gatishakti National Master Plan principle.

The total capital cost of the project is Rs 1,878.31 crore.

Advertisement

The Zirakpur bypass starts from the junction with NH-7 (Chandigarh-Bathinda) in Zirakpur and follows the Punjab Government Master Plan in Punjab and terminates at the junction with NH-5 (Zirakpur-Parwanoo) in Panchkula of Haryana, thus avoiding the highly urbanised and congested stretch of Zirakpur in Punjab and Panchkula in Haryana.

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 current proposal aims at reducing the travel time and ensuring hassle-free traffic movement in the congested urban section of NH-7, NH-5 and NH-152.

The Government has taken up decongestion of Chandigarh, Panchkula and Mohali urban agglomeration with development of road network which would take the shape of ring road as indicated in the map. The Zirakpur bypass is an important component of this plan.