E-Paper
Chandigarh admn tells PGIMER to stop paint work on heritage buildings
In the letter addressed to the PGIMER director, the urban planning department pointed out that the campus is enlisted as a Grade-2 heritage precinct, where not external changes are allowed
Raising objections over violation of heritage norms, the Chandigarh urban planning department has shot off a letter to Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER), asking it to immediately stop the external paint work on heritage buildings on its campus.
The urban planning department letter comes in the wake of objections raised by Chandigarh Heritage Conservation Committee (CHCC) members over the white paint work being undertaken at the institute. In the letter addressed to the PGIMER director, the department pointed out that the campus is enlisted as a Grade-2 heritage precinct falling in the Heritage Zone-8.
“The Heritage Grade–2 guidelines, which apply to the PGI campus, permit no external change, and only allow limited internal changes in these precincts and buildings, which do not affect the exterior of the same... Therefore, painting of the external facades is in violation of the heritage guidelines, which have been duly notified by the Government of India,” states the letter.
On the instructions of the central government, an expert panel had prepared a report identifying important buildings, precincts and zones of the city to be declared as heritage, which was approved by the ministry of home affairs in December 2011. Subsequently, CHCC was constituted by the administration in April 2012 with the mandate to identify, preserve and conserve the city’s identified heritage.
The expert panel had put PGIMER campus, which includes buildings designed by Pierre Jeanneret, in the category of Grade-2 heritage sites, which are of regional or local importance possessing special architectural or aesthetic merit, or cultural or historical significance, though of a lower scale than Grade-1 sites. Heritage Zone-8 extends along Madhya Marg from PGIMER to Sukhna Choe and includes institutional and commercial buildings besides green belts along it.
Follow set preservation protocol
Seeking directions to be issued to the concerned wing of PGIMER to immediately stop the ongoing external paint work, the letter further states: “These building facades be restored to their original character, for which the UT engineering department has formulated a protocol with the approval of the CHCC.”
The engineering department is already undertaking restoration and preservation work of heritage buildings, including Capitol Complex, as per the protocol. The facade of government and private building in Sector 17 is also getting a facelift as per this preservation protocol.
“Truthfulness of materials was one of the main tenets of Le Corbusier’s work. Hence, the use of exposed concrete at the Capitol Complex, Sector 17 and buildings in PGIMER,” said a department official requesting anonymity.
Dr Ashok Kumar, official spokesperson of PGIMER, said he had no knowledge of the issue.
