The Chandigarh Administration has completed land acquisition for a railway underpass in Baltana.

Northern Railways has invited e-bids for a railway underbridge on the Ambala-Chandigarh section at the Raipur Kalan-Baltana crossing. Bidding starts February 13, with work expected to be awarded in February 2026 and construction to begin in March; completion is expected within nine months. The project will use the trenchless box-jacking method, avoiding disruption to rail traffic.

The ₹12.81-crore joint project is funded by the Railways and Chandigarh UT administration. In November 2025, administrator Gulab Chand Kataria approved 50% of the UT share; the Railways requested the UT deposit ₹6.4 crore. The project was initially sanctioned in 2021-22 at ₹7.99 crore, split between ₹4 crore from the UT and ₹3.99 crore from the Railways. Delays in land acquisition and funding stalled the work and increased costs. Acquisition of five kanal and 19 marlas is complete; the land will be handed to the engineering department.

The underbridge is expected to ease traffic for Raipur Kalan, Mauli Jagran and Vikas Nagar in Chandigarh; Baltana, Zirakpur and Dhakoli in Mohali; and Panchkula.

The long-pending railway underpass at the Raipur Kalan–Harmilap Nagar level crossing (RUB-123) in Baltana has reached the final land-acquisition stage. Notifications under Sections 19 and 20 of the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013, have been issued.

The Ambala railway division asked the Chandigarh administration, in a letter dated January 19, 2026, to deposit its 50% share of the ₹12.81 crore construction cost. Tendering can begin once the UT releases the funds.

MP Satnam Singh Sandhu, councillor Anil Dubey and the Railway Crossing Removal and Underpass Construction Struggle Committee have been pursuing the project. Chandigarh’s restored authority to approve local development works up to ₹100 crore means budget clearance can be processed within the UT administration, rather than routed through the Union home ministry.

Chandigarh Administrator Gulab Chand Kataria approved ₹6.4 crore, half the UT’s share of the ₹12.81-crore joint Railways-UT road underbridge project at the Raipur Kalan-Baltana crossing on the Chandigarh-Ambala rail route. The project is expected to ease travel for Raipur Kalan, Vikas Nagar, Baltana, Zirakpur, Dhakoli, Panchkula, Mauli Jagran and nearby areas.

Land acquisition is complete: the UT acquired 5 kanal and 19 marla, with a July notification covering 0.74 acres in Raipur Kalan. The social impact assessment found no residents displaced; two families lost agricultural land. Railways will begin tendering, with work expected to be allotted in January and completed within eight months.

The project report was prepared in 2017 and it was sanctioned in 2021-22 at ₹7.99 crore, split between the UT (₹4 crore) and Railways (₹3.99 crore). Work stalled for three to four years over land acquisition and the UT’s failure to deposit funds, pushing costs to ₹12.81 crore.

Power cuts affected Zirakpur, Baltana and Dhakoli on June 12, 2025.