Airport to take flight
The plans to upgrade the Chandigarh Airport to international standards are in the process of implementation, with officials expecting the work to be over by March. Land will be acquired from the Army and Air Force authorities. While the terminal complex in Mohali may take longer to be complete, the work inside the terminal at Chandigarh is expected to be over by early 2009.

Link road to Panchkula
Work on the construction of the alternative road, which will connect Chandigarh to the National Highway-21, is nearing completion. The stretch is being provided with a 4/2-lane dual carriageway and a bridge on the Sukhna choe at a cost of Rs 10 crore. It is likely to be inaugurated by March 31, 2009. A proposal has been sent to the Ministry of Railways for the construction of a road under-bridge at the railway crossing on the way. This will ease the traffic pressure on the existing Chandigarh-Kalka road, which also joins Chandigarh and Panchkula.

MC’s plans
The Municipal Corporation (MC) is expected to add more attractions to Sector 17 Plaza. With its beautification in mind, the MC plans to extend it to the Madhya Marg. A children’s corner will be started. Sector 26 will see the laying of the foundation stone for the country’s first sensory park — Park for Blind.

Community parking
Community parking is likely to mark a beginning in the New Year. With the areas under Burail village taking the lead, more sectors are likely to follow suit. The MC has plans to convert open spaces in more sectors into community parkings in view of the steep increase in the number of vehicles. To offer a solution to the litigants’ parking woes outside the Punjab and Haryana High Court, the Chandigarh Administration will construct a multi-level parking lot in the court complex.

The health report
Work is already in progress on the six-storey OPD block at the Government Hospital in Sector 16 at a cost of Rs 8.46 crore. More facilities will be added to the existing buildings after the completion of this project. The much delayed seven-storey block in the Government Medical College and Hospital, Sector 32, with underground parking facility at a cost of Rs 22 crore may also see the light of day this year. The Advanced Cardiac Centre at the PGI will finally be opened to the public in the next few months, promising the best facilities in the fields of cardiac and cardio surgery in the region under one roof. The PET scan and Gamma Knife, too, are ready for inauguration. Nehru Hospital will be modernised by adding 250 beds.

Education online
While the UT Education department has plans to introduce smart classes in more government schools, Panjab University will implement its decision of making the payment of fees and the attendance of the students online.

Rapid transit system
The Rail India Technical and Economic Services (RITES), which has been appointed as consultant for the project, will submit its report in the coming weeks for the preparation of the comprehensive mobility plan. Its initial report suggesting a 34-km Metro rail route for Chandigarh, Panchkula and Mohali at a cost of Rs 100 crore per kilometre has been submitted to the Centre. Nothing is, however, expected on the ground in 2009.

Panchkula: mall-o-mania and much more
The year 2009 will witness the opening of the much awaited malls, Shalimar and The Bella Vista. Promising to bring in night life to the city, Shalimar is all set to be open in the first half of January, while Bella Vista is in its last leg of construction. Work on the project to make the Zirakpur-Parwanoo stretch four lane has started, and the district will see completion of several under-passes, bridges and other structures that have been proposed under the project by the end of the year. The Haryana Urban Development Authority, too, claims to go ahead with the Pinjore Kalka urban complex project in 2009 with the process of land acquisition almost on the verge of completion.