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Tribune Special
Ta-ta to Corbusier code
Tatas plan residential towers over 30-storey high
Chitleen K. Sethi
Tribune News Service

Mohali, April 10
Barely a km north of Le Corbusier’s Capitol Complex, where the edict of Chandigarh specifically bans any construction, Tata Housing Development Corporation (THDC) has planned Punjab’s tallest housing project ever.

The proposed complex, spread over 52 acres in Kansal village, would offer around 2,000 apartments in 13 multi-storey towers. The tallest of these towers would be 35 storeyed and another 31 storeyed. The remaining towers range between 12 to 23 storeys. If given the nod, Tata’s 350-foot skyscraper would blanket Chandigarh’s skyline, blocking the Shivalik hills forever from view.

Though in Punjab, Kansal village is at a stone’s throw away from the Punjab and Haryana High Court and the secretariat building, which together constitute Chandigarh’s Capitol Complex. The famous open hand monument designed by Corbusier is located within this complex. Classified as eco-fragile and seismic-prone, the area is regulated by the Punjab Capital Periphery Control Act.

But none of these seem to be of any concern to Punjab. Closely involved in the project is a host of MLAs, both from ruling and opposition parties, led by Lok Sabha deputy speaker Charanjit Singh Atwal. For this project, the Tatas had bought over 20 acres in Kansal from Punjab MLAs Housing Society, in a deal which would give each MLA, who gave up his share in the society, Rs 82.5 lakh in cash plus an apartment in the proposed project. Only a token amount has been paid to the MLAs till now and they are desperately waiting for the project to come through.

Though THDC has not formally submitted a proposal to the Punjab government, a preview of their ambitious plan has been given to the concerned ministers and bureaucrats.

The company’s plans, being obviously pushed by the political clout that these MLAs wield, are bound to provoke protest from Chandigarh and even become a bone of contention between the state and the centre. The project could also run foul of Chandigarh’s claims to ‘Heritage City’ status, presently under active consideration by UNESCO. The project has already become a hot potato for officers of the two departments that have to give various clearances to the project. The Department of Housing, as also the Department of Local Bodies, is under tremendous pressure to pave the way for the project at all costs. The relations between the two departments have also come under strain, with each waiting for the other to take the “uncomfortable” decision.

Manoranjan Kalia, the local bodies minister, is, however, upbeat about the project. “The Tata project is a grand one which includes construction of high-rise buildings. We are doing away with height restrictions in all municipal areas across Punjab and this would include the Nayagaon NAC. The edict is only for Chandigarh, not for Punjab. And when Chandigarh was conceived, high-rise buildings were not in fashion. Now the situation is different. We have to move with the times,” he said.

The project falls within the Nayagaon Notified Area Committee (NAC), set up in 2006. The NAC is yet to be empowered. Once this hitch is done away with, the area would be guided by municipal laws, which allow dense group housing to come up within the local body’s limits. Repeated phone calls to the Tata official and a detailed questionnaire sent to THDC have not elicited any response.