DLF mall in IT Park will start functioning from early 2008. Apart from this, Uppal’s Centra Mall, City Emporio Mall and the TDI mall in Sector 17 will most likely be completed soon. Not to forget theme malls and spacious offices in the Industrial Area.

Transport and traffic

The administration has chalked out a plan to clear bottlenecks. The roundabouts will stay but the city will get more traffic lights, wider sliproads and more efficient use of slow carriageways. The administration seems to be working on giving the city a mass rapid transit system. The city will see more AC low-floor buses, mini buses, and double-deckers.

Police to go hi-tech

Chandigarh Police will get CCTVs installed at busy road junctions and in markets to monitor traffic and to keep an eye on miscreants. Police stations are expected to be connected through an online system with neighbouring police networks of neighbouring states.

New Panchkula

Panchkula is all set to shed its image of being a poor cousin of Chandigarh. The new year will see the completion of the long-awaited Shalimar Mall and The Bella Vista shopping complex, both of which are in Sector 5. The auction for a first of its kind, 24-storey five-star deluxe hotel is scheduled for January 16. Work on it is expected to start soon. A multi-level parking is also being planned near the hotel site.

Better road network

As the final deadline for the prestigious Rs 282-crore Ambala-Zirakpur four-laning ends in November 2008, the flyover is also expected by that time. The process to four-lane the Zirakpur Kalka national highway has also started. The district administration has allocated Rs 13 crore to carpet all city roads.

Better healthcare

The UT Administration is working on the synchronisation of health services across the city. Government hospitals like GMH, GMCH and a number of dispensaries in the city will be made more independent. The PGIMER will get a Burns unit, which will take care of patients with critical burns. Work on it is likely to be over by March, 2008. Work on the trauma centre will start and a GMCH block will be extended.

Focus schools

The mid-day meal will likely be extended till Class VIII. New sites are being finalised for schools. A few sites have already been approved and work is expected to start any moment now. The project to provide free computer education in government schools is expected to start this year. From the next session, the Smart Schools concept may be implemented. Students will also be able to take part in educational programmes, as part of which they will get chances to go abroad. Government schools are also likely to get a facelift with Nek Chand’s murals new furniture. Efforts are on to introduce community radio.

PU calling

A management institute on par with the Indian Institutes of Management is on the cards. This will be independent of the UBS and will offer nine options in MBA.

Seven new courses will be introduced this year: Stem Cell and Tissue Culture Engineering, Centre for Linguistic Journalism, BSc (Hons) and MSc (Hons) in Physics Electronics and new courses in Pharmacy, Zoology and Defence Studies. Guru Teg Bahadur Punjabi Bhawan to promote study of history, languages and culture of Punjab will come up. double shifts will be started in UIET and UBS. PU is developing a file tracking system through which the movement of files can be traced. The process of coding and decoding answer sheets will be computerised.