Sector 2 RWA protests Chandigarh MC’s road widening plan; warns move violates green-belt protection order

The Residents Welfare Association, Sector 2, Chandigarh, has objected to the Municipal Corporation’s move to push through Rs 29.26-lakh road-widening project apparently for the exclusive convenience of “temporary occupants of houses 46 to 50 allotted to ministers whose occupancy is ordinarily transient and changes after every five years”.

The association, among other things, has asserted that the move is in violation of Punjab and Haryana High Court’s order protecting a green belt in the area. “If any attempt is made to encroach upon the green belt, the association would be constrained to take appropriate legal / contempt remedy as available under law for ensuring strict compliance of the judgment and order dated May 2, 2023,” executive-cum-governing body member Gauravjit S Patwalia has asserted in a representation to the MC Commissioner and Chief Engineer.

The association said the civic body had “overlooked several long-pending and pressing civic issues repeatedly highlighted by the permanent residents of Sector 2, and has instead chosen to earmark a substantial sum of Rs 29.26 lakh” for the exclusive convenience of the temporary occupants.

The RWA warned that any attempt to widen the V-6 internal road by intruding into the adjoining green belt would run directly contrary to the Punjab and Haryana High Court’s binding direction dated May 2, 2023, in a civil writ petition.

Elaborating, the association said it had specifically been observed by the Punjab and Haryana High Court that the green belt would be maintained as it is by the administration. He added it was, as such, requested that the green belt must not be encroached upon for road widening as the same would be in teeth of the judgment and order.

Citing the Chandigarh Master Plan-2031, the association stressed that the belt formed part of the planned V2-road (Uttar Marg) green corridor and fell within open spaces recommended by the Expert Heritage Committee for heritage protection. The Master Plan described such spaces as the “soul of Chandigarh” and warned that they must remain “inviolable” to preserve the city’s planning ethos.

“Chapter 11 of the Chandigarh Master Plan- 2031 categorically talks about the diverse open spaces in Chandigarh and green belts along with the main avenues. It is pertinent to state here that recommendations have also been made that in order to preserve the character and ethos of the city, it is important that the green spaces along the V2/V3 and V4 roads be accorded a heritage status. The green space/belt which would be encroached upon is running along a V2 road (Uttar Marg),” Patwalia wrote.

The RWA concluded that the civic body was bound by judicial directions and could not disturb the protected green belt to facilitate a project devised for the convenience of bungalow occupants at the expense of residents and the city’s heritage landscape.