The UT Administration has blamed the neighbouring states of Punjab and Haryana for not offering support and coordination in preserving the basic character of the city. During the resumed hearing of a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) concerning preparation of a masterplan for Chandigarh,Advocate Sanjay Kaushal,senior standing counsel for UT Administration contended that in the absence of able and unconditioned support of the neighbouring states,the citys character will be put at stake. Under the recent proposals of the GMADA Regional Plan,Punjab has proposed the extension of six existing towns,and Haryana,five towns. In effect,this will lead to the growth of 11 towns with an estimated population between 80 lakhs and one crore by 2031,all within the 16 km peripheral area of the city,which will have far reaching consequences on the character and the quality of life of the city,said Kaushal. He said this is also against the tenets of the National Policy of Housing and Urban Habitat,2007 as well as the National Mission for Climate Change. The townships of Mohali and Panchkula came up on Chandigarhs doorsteps,which put tremendous pressure on Chandigarh and are now affecting the quality of life here. There is no physical gap between these proposed extensions. As such,the urbanisation put together will far exceed the magnitude of a megapolis by 2031. There is an urgent need to revisit the proposals and prepare an Interstate regional plan, Kaushal said in his affadavit. Impact of the proposed developments Threat to Sukhna Lake and Wildlife sanctuary: Soil erosion is a serious problem in the Shivaliks,leading to heavy siltation of the Lake. These developments in the already water starved lakes catchment area will pose a long-term threat to Sukhna lake. Threat to the skyline and the backdrop of the Shivalik Hills: The masterplan of Naya Gaon Urban Complex 2021 falling in the immediate north of the Capitol Complex in Punjab provides only a 1-km zone from the north-eastern edge of the Secretariat building to be a low-rise zone. Beyond that,the building height can be 1.5 times the width of the road in front of the building plus the width of the front setback. These development controls permit high-rise buildings. If this development rule is allowed to prevail,it is inevitable that there would be no restriction on the number of high-rise towers that may come up in future which will totally block the view of the Shivalik Hills. The affidavit said: The proposed developments of neighbouring states in the pipeline/in the process of implementation will result in a mockery of the Capitol Complexs sanctity and efforts to preserve the citys unique heritage and preparation of a new masterplan for next 20 years. The masterplan has recommended that with the development of the townships of Mohali and Panchkula in violation to the Punjab New Capital (Periphery) Control Act,1952 we have already compromised on the desired environment of the garden city concept,as such no further urbanisation resulting in reduction of the green belt should be permitted on the periphery. Doing an exercise in parts without considering its entirety may lead to imbalance and detrimental growth of the city and the region. It said the use of solar energy for power-generation is unsatisfactory,which even the UT administration has pointed out. There is an urgent need for Chandigarh to take a leap forward in this direction to ensure that eventually all buildings in the city become generators of electricity by using photovoltaic and thin-wrap around building integrated photovoltaic systems (BIPV). Also,there is need to make energy conservation building code (ECBC) mandatory to ensure reduction of electricity consumption. There is a need to reduce total energy footprint of the city and to aim at being a zero carbon city,reduce carbon footprint due to waste based on the concept of reduce,recycle and reuse and to reduce dependence on ground water the affidavit further said.
