France to help conserve City Beautiful heritage

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, May 14

French Ambassador to India Emmanuel Lenain today called on Punjab Governor and UT Administrator Banwarilal Purohit during his visit to Chandigarh.

In a very cordial meeting held at the Punjab Raj Bhavan, the Administrator said Chandigarh’s French connection could never be forgotten because from the conceptualisation of the city to its planning and execution, French contribution had been immense. French architect Le Corbusier designed this ‘City Beautiful’ and the French consultants are now rendering expertise in transforming the city into a ‘Smart City’.

The UT Administrator said Chandigarh would look forward to benefiting from French expertise in the area of identification, restoration and legal protection of heritage furniture as well as in the preservation of the architectural heritage of the city.

He appreciated French support in water supply project. To cater to a gap of demand and supply in water, a 24X7 water supply project is to be initiated soon in the city with the financial assistance from French Government Development Agency.

The French envoy assured all support and said French experts would look into the restoration and conservation works in Capitol Complex and other exposed reinforced concrete buildings.

He suggested partnerships with higher educational institutions for greater educational opportunities for students of India in France. “As of now, nearly 10,000 students from India are studying in France and we hope that the number will double by the next year,” he said. Lenain said the two countries had shared good working relations, and added that finding new solutions in area of mutual interest would further help in strengthening the relations.

Tie-ups for knowledge sharing in the field of architecture, ideas for traffic management in the city on the Paris pattern were among the other things touched upon. Information on the clean, green Smart City project, urban renewal of villages, waste management and upgrade of infrastructure was shared.

UT Adviser Dharam Pal and JM Balamurugan, Principal Secretary to the Governor, were also present during the meeting

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