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Questions raised on legality of nod to Chandigarh flyover project
Senior architects and urban planners, including members of the expert heritage committee and master plan committee, have written to the UT adviser
Senior architects and urban planners, including members of the expert heritage committee (EHC) and master plan committee (MPC), have questioned the legality of approval granted by the sub-committee of Chandigarh heritage conservation committee (CHCC) to the Tribune flyover project.
In a letter to the UT adviser, experts have slammed the administration for the “preposterous mechanism adopted to bypass the necessary checks in the system to protect Heritage Grade-1 (site)”.
At the centre of their objection is the CHCC sub-committee concurrence to remove mango trees on the Purva Marg in the industrial area for flyover construction. The trees are protected under law and are part of Heritage Grade-1 sites, which also include Capitol Complex and Sukhna Lake. The CHCC and its sub-committee, as per their legal mandate, are not authorised to allow changes/modifications in these sites, the letter states.
The letter signatories include former UT chief architects Sumit Kaur and Renu Saigal (also members of EHC and MPC), former Punjab chief architect SL Kaushal, former Haryana chief architect Ashwini Sabharwal, former principal of Chandigarh College of Architecture SS Bhatti (EHC member), EHC and MPC member Madhu Sarin, EHC member Chand Nehru and MPC members Jeet Kumar Gupta, KK Kaul and Namita Singh.
The letter comes in the background of recent claims made by a technical committee set up by the UT adviser, which claimed: “Keeping in view the recommendations given in the master plan from heritage point of view, the concurrence of CHCC sub-committee was obtained from construction of FRU (flyover, roundabout and underpass) as well as cutting of trees falling in the mango orchard (heritage zone).” Recently, the UT urban planning department had also categorically denied granting any “approval/concurrence” to the project.
MPC is an 11-member expert committed constituted by the UT administration in December 2009 to formulate the master plan for Chandigarh.
During the drafting of Chandigarh Master Plan 2031, the Union home minister at the instance of the Prime Minister asked for a committee of experts to be constituted to examine the original concept of the city and how its heritage buildings should be protected, preserved and maintained. Consequently, the EHC was constituted under the chairmanship of the UT administrator.
CHCC was constituted by the UT administrator as per the decision of the ministry of home affairs in April 2012. Its mandate was set by the EHC.
Mango groves Grade-1 heritage site
There are three heritage grades (1, 2 and 3) in the city, comprising 13 heritage zones. In Heritage Grade-1, no changes/modifications are allowed except for prolonging their lives. It includes heritage zones 1 (Sukhna Lake, Capitol Complex, wildlife sanctuary), 2, 7 and 9 (belt of Mango Grove along Purva Marg).
“Being placed under Heritage Grade-1, they (mango trees) deserve the same protection as inter alia Sukhna Lake and Capitol Complex,” the letter states.
“Moreover, the mango orchards, which constitute ‘Open Spaces’ are inviolable and were declared so as to prevent them from being diverted to other land uses. Constructing a flyover and uprooting the mango trees irrefutably flouts the CMP-2031,” the letter states.
Chandigarh Master Plan 2031 states: “No interventions be permitted either on exterior or interior of the heritage building or natural features falling under the Heritage Grade-1 unless it is necessary in the interest of strengthening and prolonging the life of the buildings/or precincts or any part or features thereof.”
Beyond heritage conservation panel mandate
The mandate of the CHCC sub-committee is to advise and assist the department of urban planning in “handling minor issues of routine nature.”
“Interfering and part-destruction of Heritage Grade-1 is beyond the scope of the sub-committee. We are shocked to see the preposterous mechanism adopted to bypass the necessary checks in the system to protect Heritage Grade-1, and hope this sub-committee is not used to procure permission for part-destruction of the Capitol Complex or Sukhna Lake in the near future,” states the letter.
The experts have also suggested a “comprehensive mobility plan” and a “public transport strategy” mutually agreeable to Chandigarh, Haryana and Punjab for resolving the city’s traffic woes.
Project so far
March 2019: Foundation stone laid by UT administrator VP Singh Badnore
November 2019: Civil work contractor approved; Punjab and Haryana high court stays tree removal
December 2019: UT adviser forms technical committee to examine public suggestions and alternatives
December 2020: Technical committee rejects all alternatives, UT admn decides to go ahead with flyover
January 2021: Urban planning department says project does not have its requisite “approval/concurrence”
