Day after, heritage manhole cover at Chandigarh's Sector 42 sports complex secured
Amarjot Kaur
Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, August 17
A heritage manhole cover at the UT Sports Complex in Sector 42, which was lying unattended and abandoned, has now been moved to a secure location.
The UT Administration Engineering Department is also repairing the sewer and the area around the manhole.
Yesterday, Ajay Jagga, member of the UT Heritage Items Protection Cell, wrote to the Municipal Corporation Commissioner, expressing concern over the manhole cover’s security. He wrote that the manhole cover designed by Le Corbusier, which is worth nearly Rs2 million, was at the risk of being stolen.
A day after Chandigarh Tribune highlighted the issue, the manhole cover was moved inside the fenced compound of the building today. When this correspondent visited the spot, the area around the sewer was covered with cement.
UT Adviser Dharam Pal said: “The repair work is being handled by the Engineering Department.” He added that the Engineering Department told him that the manhole slab was broken due to the movement of a truck. The new slab was laid today and manhole frame had been grouted in it. The manhole cover was now safely at the site office, he said. The same shall be fixed after slab setting.
Not our responsibility: MC
When contacted, MC’s executive engineer Vijay Premi said: “Since the manhole cover is located inside a property (sports complex) owned by the UT Administration, the MC is not responsible for its repair and maintenance.”
On this, Ajay Jagga opined that there was a need for proper demarcation of the MC and Administration-owned properties. “I’m happy that the manhole cover has been protected. However, to a layperson, it is quite confusing. I have been under the impression that the MC was replacing 2,000 manhole covers in the city as many were being stolen. There should be a proper demarcation between heritage properties owned by the MC and the UT Administration.”
