‘Heritage manhole cover lying unattended at Sector 42 Sports Complex in Chandigarh’

Amarjot Kaur

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, August 16

A heritage manhole cover worth lakhs of rupees is lying unattended at the Sector 42 Sports Complex, claims Ajay Jagga, member of UT’s Heritage Items Protection Cell, in a letter written to the Municipal Corporation Commissioner. The letter points out the “MC’s lackadaisical approach” towards the city’s heritage items.

Sharing pictures of the manhole cover, Jagga wrote: “Came across the shocking state of affairs regarding a heritage manhole cover. The frame and the heritage manhole are lying in a pathetic condition and is an open invitation to thieves/smugglers.” The city has nearly 2,000 cast iron manhole covers with an impression of Chandigarh map, which were designed by French architect Le Corbusier. In December 2019, MC had approved replacing these covers with cemented ones at an approximate cost of Rs75 lakh. This was done to protect heritage of the city as many reports of manhole covers being auctioned or stolen kept surfacing. Despite repeated attempts, MC Commissioner KK Yadav could not be contacted. Meanwhile, Satish Jain, SDM (South), whose office is on the premises of the sports complex, said: “I have no idea about this manhole cover.”