PANCHKULA: At last, the railway department has given a green signal for the railway overbridge (ROB) to be constructed at the railway crossing between Panchkula's Sector 19, Panchkula and Baltana, a long pending demand of the residents of Panchkula and Baltana. The project will cost Rs 30 crore and will start from January 1 and will end by March 2020.The designs were submitted by the Haryana public works department (PWD) after their survey but was not approved by the railways. The work was pending since then. When contacted the Panchkula MLA Gian Chand Gupta, he said, "Railways has approved the final design submitted by the PWD department. A technical clearance was given and tenders have also been invited for this project.""Financial bids is most likely to be open on Monday and the entire project will cost Rs 30 crore and the work would be completed within 15 months. The work will begin in January," added Chand."This was a long pending demand of the residents. We will be giving a New Year gift to the residents of Sector 19 with foundation stone laying ceremony to be done by Haryana chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar ," Gupta said.Officials said that two firms have shown their interest and have come forward for the project during a pre-bid meeting recently. The ROB has been planned for the site to give relief to the residents from traffic jams in the area and to facilitate smooth traffic between Panchkula, Baltana and Zirakpur. A road safety audit will also be conducted at construction and operational stages.Earlier, it was decided to the build a railway underbridge (RUB) at the crossing but due to no feasibility of RUB at the site found by the technical team of railway and PWD department, it was decided to build a ROB at the crossing. The then councilor from Sector 19 Ravi Kant Swami has raised the issue of RUB/ROB in all the house meeting of the municipal corporation.In December 2015, BJP MLA Gian Chand Gupta had written to the then railway minister, Suresh Prabhu, regarding the construction of a ROB or a RUB. In February 2017, Gupta again wrote for a ROB to minister of state for railways, Rajen Gohain, citing difficulties faced by the Panchkula residents.

Stay updated with all the Chandigarh Latest News headlines here. For more exclusive & live news updates from all around India, stay connected with NYOOOZ.