In a development that removes a critical on-ground obstacle for one of the most awaited highway projects in the Chandigarh Tricity, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) has granted the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) working permission to use 2.7461 acres of defence land at Chandimandir Military Station for the construction of the Rs 1,983-crore Zirakpur-Panchkula Bypass and its connecting Spur — clearing the last significant administrative barrier before spades hit the ground.A copy of the MoD order is with The Tribune.The working permission, issued with the concurrence of MoD (Finance), values the defence land at Rs 9,88,85,963 (approximately Rs 9.89 crore). However, instead of a cash payment, the compensation has been structured on an Equivalent Value in Infrastructure (EVI) basis — NHAI will construct approximately 32 Junior Commissioned Officers (JCO) and Other Ranks (OR) married accommodation units at Chandimandir Military Station at a total estimated cost of approximately Rs 12 crore, with the remaining Rs 2.21 crore to be met from the Defence Budget of the Army.The order has been signed by Vikram Verma, Deputy Director (Lands), Ministry of Defence.What the order saysUnder the terms of the working permission, a Board of Officers (BOO) — comprising representatives of NHAI as the Indenting Authority, the Defence Estates Officer (DEO) and the Local Military Authority (LMA) — must be convened within four weeks of the order’s issue to carry out physical demarcation and measurement of the defence land, determine exact survey numbers and assess the security, safety measures and cost of relocation of any existing government or private assets on the plot.The handing over of the land from the Army to NHAI is required to be completed within one month of the issue of the working permission. NHAI has been directed to use the defence land strictly for the purpose for which permission has been granted and for no other purpose.The order further stipulates that NHAI must ensure no defence installation, utility or asset — including boundary walls, sewerage lines, water supply pipelines, communications networks and electrical lines — is compromised or damaged during construction. Any asset affected must be restored at NHAI’s cost.The concessionaire must also comply with air and noise pollution norms prescribed by the Pollution Control Board and the Ministry of Environment throughout the construction period.Crucially, the working permission is contingent on a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to be executed between NHAI, the DEO and the LMA. Formal sanction for the permanent transfer of the 2.7461 acres of defence land will be issued only after obtaining Cabinet approval.Why this mattersThe MoD clearance directly enables ground-level work to begin on the 19.2-km Zirakpur-Panchkula Bypass — the Rs 1,380-crore project awarded to RKCPL Limited on March 27. The bypass, which runs from its junction with NH-7 (Zirakpur-Patiala) to NH-5 (Zirakpur-Parwanoo) across Punjab and Haryana, passes through the Chandimandir belt — making the defence land clearance a non-negotiable prerequisite for the project’s physical commencement.The LOA for the bypass and its 10.3-km connecting Spur — awarded to Ceigall Infra Projects Private Limited at Rs 603 crore on the same day — together set in motion Rs 1,983 crore worth of construction that is projected to end Zirakpur’s status as the single most congested pinch-point in the Tricity. The Bypass is expected to be operational by early 2028, the Spur by late 2027.Once built, the twin corridors will allow traffic from Delhi, Ambala and Chandigarh heading to Panchkula, Baddi and Shimla to leapfrog Zirakpur’s choked urban grid entirely — providing relief on NH-44, NH-205A and NH-152, the three most stressed national highway corridors approaching the Tricity from the south and west.The two projects form the vital southeastern arc of the Rs 12,000-crore, 244-km Tricity Ring Road, which is designed to redirect non-local traffic away from the urban cores of Chandigarh, Mohali and Panchkula.With the Ambala-Chandigarh Greenfield Corridor 80 per cent complete and the IT City-Kurali stretch already open to traffic, the MoD clearance brings the full ring road network meaningfully closer to completion.