While majority of the members of the Administrator’s Advisory Council, including former Union minister of Congress Pawan Bansal and former BJP MP Satya Pal Jain, favoured having a metro rail network in Chandigarh, local Member of Parliament Kirron Kher opposed it and pitched for a monorail instead. The members stated that if fund crunch was a problem let all four – Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and the Union Territory – share the cost of the metro. This was discussed in the fifth meeting of the Administrator’s Advisory Council held Friday under the chairmanship of UT Administrator V P Singh Badnore. Advertising The proposed metro project for Chandigarh was scrapped following issues of “non feasibility”. Member of Parliament Kher has remained vocal in her opposition, saying she could not see the “city being uprooted” and not many will use the service. A Detailed Project Report had stated that the metro would not be commercially viable till 2051 due to poor Peak-hour Peak-direction traffic (PHP) here in Chandigarh. The cost of metro was estimated to be Rs 14,000 crore. Congress leader Bansal told the meeting that increasing traffic has to be dealt with and metro for the city will be underground. He said, “We can’t look at Chandigarh in isolation.” Advertising BJP leader Jain too spoke in favour of the metro. He told the members that Chandigarh’s traffic was increasing tremendously and there was a dire need to have a metro. “Let not metro be just confined to Chandigarh. In the initial phase, let the metro be taken up to areas like Kalka and Parwanoo in Himachal Pradesh, Morinda, Rajpura and Patiala in Punjab and other places in Haryana. “Coming generation will not excuse us if we don’t come up with a concrete solution,” Jain said, specifying that the metro will cut short long travel time, which people have to go through in their personal cars and subsequently decrease the pollution as well. “If someone has to travel to Parwanoo from Mohali, he/she can easily do that in 15 minutes in a metro. Let us start today itself. No excuse related to digging of the city be made. It can be underground or even pillar to pillar as in other places,” he said. Kher, on the contrary, said that monorail is good idea for Chandigarh. “Punjab and Haryana can use metro up to Chandigarh and then transfer to monorail as that will save the city from being dug up,” she said. Sources said that BJP chief Sanjay Tandon in the meeting told that he was in a fix as “his sitting MP and former MP were divided” on the issue. However, Jain retorted in the meeting saying that “we are not divided and rather we are one.” “There can be difference of opinion but we are one,” Jain said. Further it was stated that issue may not be politicised. UT Administrator V P Singh Badnore then said that they will have to involve other states and in the interest of the public. “A meeting of all stakeholders will soon be convened, following which the views will be conveyed to the Ministry of Home Affairs.” Traders demand box-type shops Both Kher and Bansal supported traders’ demand of provision of box-type structure in Phase I, that is Sector 7 to 30. While speaking on this issue Kher said that they need it. Advertising Kamaljit Singh Panchi, a trader and member of the council also brought a model of the box-type structure and showed it to the administrator.

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