Mullanpur-Kurali road to now be completed by Feb: GMADA to HC

The Greater Mohali Development Authority (GMADA) has told Punjab and Haryana high court that the 8.9-km PR 4 road, connecting Kurali with UT boundary in Mullanpur (New Chandigarh), is now to be completed by February 2025.

A key stretch, connecting cricket stadium in New Chandigarh, was originally to be completed by December 2023. Its deadline got extended to March 2024. After missing the deadline again, GMADA has now set February 2025 as the new deadline.

The information was shared by GMADA chief administrator Moneesh Kumar during the resumed hearing of a public interest litigation (PIL) filed by one of the residents welfare associations at Eco City-1, New Chandigarh; pertaining to critical issues, such as delay in road projects, a blocked sewage treatment plant, uncollected solid waste, and the emergence of a slum colony in a low-lying area. Kumar has not spelt out the reasons for delay of the project in his affidavit.

He also told high court that the construction of VR-5 road, a stretch within New Chandigarh, is likely to be completed by December 31. It connects Eco City-1 with Chandigarh and Mohali through PR-4 road. As of another road HR-3, which provides access to Eco City-1 to VR-6, is to be completed by March 2025, he said.

The project to upgrade the 200-foot road also includes construction of three bridges and connects to the cricket stadium, has now been commissioned and touches UT’s boundary in Mullanpur (New Chandigarh) at Dakshin Marg in Chandigarh.

Authorities had to face criticism for not completing the project in time in March when the stadium hosted its first Indian Premier league (IPL) match on March 23. Top officers from Punjab government had to intervene when incomplete work on both sides of the stadium came to light in early March and they had to resort to cosmetic measures to conduct the stadium’s first IPL match.

According to a GMADA official, the delay in upgrading PR-4 road happened mainly because of a delayed decision pertaining to road widening.

GMADA got the approval to construct a three-lane road in December, after awaiting approval for around one year. The work was hit last year due to heavy monsoon.

“It was only last November that GMADA decided to widen the PR-4 road by 11 metres. Earlier the officials concerned proposed to widen the road up to 13.5 metres. It took authorities a year to decide on the road widening which delayed the deadline this year,” a GMADA official said.