Careless MC men damage heritage manhole covers

Ramkrishan Upadhyay

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, December 11

Heritage items fetching whopping price at auctions abroad notwithstanding, these continue to face neglect in the city.

The official apathy is evident behind the Sector 18-C market where four manhole covers designed by French architect Le Corbusier are lying unattended for two days. Unaware of their value, these were damaged while being removed by labourers.

Sanjeev, a local resident, said MC workers were carrying out the work of replacing sewer lines. They installed cemented manhole covers but failed to take care of the heritage covers they removed.

Several Corbusier-designed covers, bearing an impression of his master plan for Chandigarh, have been smuggled out and auctioned for Rs 10 to 15 lakh. After a hue and cry over the issue, the MC carried out a survey of such covers recently.

Ajay Jagga, member, Chandigarh Heritage Cell, said it was surprising that officials did not learn any lesson so far. The covers should be shifted immediately. Ex-UT Chief Architect Sumit Kaur said those manhole covers represented the originality of the city. The MC should stop interfering with the city’s original character. Instead of replacing these with cemented covers, replicas of these covers should be made.

MC Chief Engineer Manoj Kumar Bansal said he would look into the matter and ensure no harm to the heritage items.