Chandigarh Heritage panel reconstituted

Dushyant Singh Pundir

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Chandigarh, July 20

The UT Administration has reconstituted the Chandigarh Heritage Conservation Committee (CHCC).

Sumit Kaur, former UT Chief Architect, and Dr IC Syal, a practising structural engineer, have been appointed as new members of the committee. Prof Rajnish Wattas, former principal of the Chandigarh College of Architecture, has been retained as the member of the committee.

Sumit Kaur has also been appointed as the chairman of the sub-committee of the CHCC.

On the directions of the Ministry of Home Affairs dated April 20, 2012, the UT Administrator constituted the committee, which works for the preservation, conservation and maintenance of the heritage of the city. The committee can take required steps for the completion of incomplete projects of the original plan and declaring heritage buildings and heritage zones to prepare a conservation management plan and frame conservation regulations.

The committee is headed by UT Adviser and comprises of senior UT officials, representatives of the Union Government and subject experts.

As per CHCC’s mandate laid down by the MHA, it should be on board when changes are made to the city’s heritage. On several occasions, it was hardly consulted like in the case of the construction of a flyover at the Tribune Chowk, pedestrian underpass on the road dividing Sector 16 and 17, etc.

A former member of the committee said the Administration generally bypasses the committee by appointing a consultant. It had happened when some members of the committee had objected to the construction of the pedestrian underpass in Sector 16-17. In the case of the Tribune flyover, the Administration went ahead with the project even when the committee hadn’t given its approval and only a sub-committee had given conditional approval.