Chandigarh: The Punjab and Haryana high court on Wednesday made it clear that although the stay on the construction of a flyover in the Industrial Area has been vacated, the Chandigarh administration must ensure compliance with all environmental impact assessments and obtain requisite permissions before commencing work. The project is expected to take off from next month.During the hearing, advocate Tanu Bedi, who has been assisting the court as amicus curiae, submitted that the Chandigarh Master Plan-2031 does not recommend the construction of flyovers or over-bridges within the city limits and the provisions of the master plan cannot be bypassed. She submitted that the subcommittee that purportedly approved the project lacked the jurisdictional authority to approve such a major infrastructure intervention. The amicus also said the project would not only cause ecological damage by felling fully grown trees, but would also disrupt GMCH-32 operations, which is a designated silence zone.Responding to the contentions raised by the amicus, senior standing counsel for the UT administration Amit Jhanji informed that the project has already been cleared by a division bench of the high court after considering all the environmental concerns. The UT counsel also informed the HC that 2,799 saplings had already been planted as compensatory afforestation at a 5:1 ratio for trees proposed to be felled.The UT further said flyover is necessary as the commuters entering from Zirakpur and Delhi have been facing traffic congestion for more than one hour. The UT counsel also informed the bench that all the requisite environmental clearances and impact assessments would be done before commencing construction of the flyover project.The matter has now been adjourned for Friday for further hearing.
