Chandigarh, Aug 5 (IANS): The Haryana government has urged the union urban development ministry to set up a 'Tri-City Development Board' for Chandigarh-Panchkula-Mohali on the pattern of the National Capital Region (NCR) board.

Haryana Health Minister Anil Vij, in a communication to union Urban Development Minister M. Venkaiah Naidu, urged that the tri-city board should be set up so that all three cities have coordinated development.

Chandigarh, the joint capital of Punjab and Haryana, is a union territory (UT). Panchkula is in Haryana while Mohali is in Punjab. Both towns share their boundary with Chandigarh.

Vij on Tuesday said he has taken up the matter with Kaptan Singh Solanki, the governor of Haryana and Punjab and UT administrator. He said Solanki appreciated the proposal.

Vij said he has also discussed this matter with the chief ministers of both Punjab and Haryana so that the idea could be implemented.

He said the tri-city board will help solve problems like transportation, operation of metro service, dealing with natural calamities like floods and droughts and other inter-state problems.

"It will also lead to overall development of Panchkula, Mohali and Chandigarh. With this, the residents living in the tri-city would get equal and better opportunities of employment and other services," Vij said.