E-Paper
Master plan:10 acres earmarked land is meant for augmentation of health infra
As per the Master Plan-2031, the land measuring 10 acres proposed for the Haryana assembly is located on the Chandigarh-Kalka Road in pocket 14 and 15 of the master plan.
Amid the political slugfest between Punjab and Haryana over land allotment to the latter for the construction of a new assembly complex in Chandigarh, it has come to light that as per Master Plan-2031 of Chandigarh, the earmarked 10 acres of land is meant for augmentation of health infrastructure only.
As per the Master Plan-2031, the land measuring 10 acres proposed for the Haryana assembly is located on the Chandigarh-Kalka Road in pocket 14 and 15 of the master plan. In pocket 14 land measuring 56.14 acres abutting Chandigarh-Kalka road is proposed for public/semi-public/institutional and can be used for augmenting the health infrastructure for low-density and low-rise buildings only.
Also, as per the provision of Master Plan 2031, land cannot be exchanged.
A senior officer of UT administration requesting anonymity admitted that there is no land available in Chandigarh for the Haryana assembly as the land under consideration is meant for public/semi-public/institutional for augmenting the health infrastructure, and no such huge projects. “There is no spare or reserved land other than 308.835 acres reserved in pockets 3 (Sarangpur village) and 8 (Maloya),” he said.
The officer said, in totality, Chandigarh has 2,987.9 acres of land which is divided into 17 pockets which describe the use of land in each pocket.
In pocket 15 there is a 327.48-acre land area between park phase-2 and route no-3, leading to Manimajra, which is meant for industrial (IT and ITES) for low-density and low-rising buildings only.
RK Garg, president of the Second Innings’ Association, a senior citizens’ body, said, “The Master Plan-2031 for Chandigarh is a document adopted after much deliberations and notified after judicial interventions. It is an exhaustive document specifying the end use of every inch of land that has not only been identified/defined but earmarked for a particular purpose as well. The land under consideration and proposed to be transferred to the state of Haryana is meant for augmentation of health infrastructure only. As such this land cannot be allotted to Haryana without approval, as per Master Plan-2031 which can be done after taking up in Parliament only”.
Punjab and Haryana currently share the Vidhan Sabha complex in Sector 1, Chandigarh. In 2022, the then Haryana chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar had pushed for the state’s rights in the existing Vidhan Sabha, in light of a potential increase in assembly seats after the 2026 delimitation exercise.
In July 2023, the UT administration had agreed in-principle to allot 10 acres near the railway light point, adjacent to IT Park, for Haryana’s new assembly premises. In return, Haryana had offered 12 acres in Saketri village, Panchkula, Haryana, adjacent to the Rajiv Gandhi Chandigarh Technology Park.
The proposal was stalled after the UT urban planning department found during a survey that the land offered by Haryana was low-lying, had a natural drain (nullah) running through it, lacked proper access, and fell within the eco-sensitive zone (ESZ). The UT, in its report, had concluded, “...the proposed exchange does not align with urban planning principles, as the two parcels of land differ significantly in terms of location, access, and usability”.
However, Haryana asserts that the land now lies outside the ESZ as the Union ministry of environment, forest, and climate change had on November 11 granted environmental clearance for the 12 acres of land in Saketri. Haryana claims that the ministry’s notification designates the 1 km to 2.035 km radius around the Sukhna Wildlife Sanctuary as ESZ but excludes the 12 acres in question.
Chandigarh-based senior architect Surinder Bahga says the master plan can only be amended with the approval of the Union government by following due procedure. Also, the master plan clearly states that the 10-acre land is meant for augmentation of health infrastructure only, and in case the land is used for any other purpose, it is a violation of Master Plan 2031, he said.
Deputy commissioner, Chandigarh, Nishant Yadav said, “I have recently joined, but will consult the urban planning department in this regard.”
Political slugfest between Punjab, Haryana
A war of words had broken out between the leaders of Punjab and Haryana last week. The AAP government in Punjab had submitted a memorandum to Punjab governor and UT administrator Gulab Chand Kataria, stating, “Chandigarh solely belongs to Punjab and not an inch of land will be allowed to be given to Haryana for the construction of its assembly building in the UT.”
Responding to this, Haryana chief minister Nayab Singh Saini had said, “I want to tell the leaders of Punjab that Haryana is Punjab’s younger brother. Why are they spoiling the brotherhood? First, they stopped SYL water and now they are raking up Vidhan Sabha issue.”
