No provision of land swap in Master Plan: Chandigarh Dept
Raising a question over swapping of land with the Haryana Government, the UT Urban Planning Department has claimed that the Chandigarh Master Plan-2031 does not provide any policy to allow such exchange of land.
Last year, a team of the department had visited the 12-acre site offered to the UT Administration in lieu of 10 acres to be provided for the Haryana Vidhan Sabha building. The department had then written to the UT Deputy Commissioner that the parameters of the two pieces of land are not comparable from approach and town planning points of view.
The department further stated that a natural drain was passing through the Haryana site, which bifurcated it into two. Also, it may not be possible to construct anything in the vicinity of the significantly wide natural drain.
The department also stated that the site earmarked for Haryana Vidhan Sabha building in Chandigarh fell right on a 200-ft road connected with Madhya Marg. It was a prime location of the city.
Presently, there is no approach road to the site in Haryana. The site was accessed through a 20-ft-wide unmetalled path from Kishangarh/Bhagwanpur village. Therefore, the access of two sites was not of same merits, stated the department.
Opposing the move, Pallav Mukherjee, an architect, said the construction of a new Vidhan Sabha building would be a sheer wastage of public money, as the House had to meet for a few days twice or thrice in a year. “So, while the world is going digital, our politicians are going the opposite way,” he said.
Expressing similar sentiments, Surinder Bagga, a senior architect and former nominated councillor, stated that from the architectural point of view, no new Vidhan Sabha building should be constructed in the city and it was a mere political decision. He said the architecture of the city was being studied by students in various universities across the world. The decision would bring a bad name to India at the international level, he said.
Le Corbusier considered the city plan similar to human body and compared the Capitol Complex with head, the city centre with heart, Leisure Valley as lungs, etc, and construction of the new Assembly building would defeat the very basic concept of planning the city, he said. “After Vidhan Sabha, the Haryana Government will demand a separate High Court and then a separate Secretariat. It will completely distort the city plan,” he said.
Meanwhile, RK Garg, president of the Second Innings Association, a senior citizens’ body, said the city residents must have a say on land swap and other local issues. “Swapping of land with Haryana will spoil the master plan. As such, public opinion of Chandigarh residents should be sought and an urgent meeting of the UT Advisory Council be convened to discuss the issue of land swap,” he demanded.
