Should Chandigarh’s identity be sacrificed for easing traffic, asks CJ Nagu

“The uniqueness of your city is only because of the heritage concept. If that goes, everything goes. The uniqueness goes. It’ll be like any other city,” said Chief Justice Sheel Nagu of the Punjab and Haryana High Court while hearing the matter relating to the proposed construction of a flyover at Tribune Chowk. He questioned whether Chandigarh could afford to compromise its founding philosophy for the sake of easing traffic.

The Bench observed that the issue went beyond a single structure and touched the very core of what made Chandigarh distinctive. “The concept of the city is pitted against the traffic congestion. Now, which one do we give more prominence to and why? Which one is more important?” the Chief Justice asked.

The court cautioned that allowing even one such deviation could irreversibly alter the city’s identity. “Can we sacrifice the heritage concept because of some traffic congestion somewhere? Builders will come in, and they’ll construct multistorey buildings. And the uniqueness of the heritage quality of the city will go,” said the Chief Justice.

Pointing to the cascading effect of such permissions, the Chief Justice warned: “This will be the beginning. If we allow a flyover there, then there’ll be another flyover this side — Punjab side — and there will be a demand for some other place also. Because the population is going to increase — if not today, maybe after 10 years, maybe after 20 years, 40 or 50 years, so do you want to preserve the heritage concept of your city, or not?”

The Chief Justice pressed for arguments by the UT on the principle of sustainable development, while observing: “Please argue on sustained development. There are judgments of the Supreme Court on that point — sustained development.”

The observations came after the Bench was – among other things - informed that the construction of flyovers was not recommended anywhere in Chandigarh, as such structures would disturb the cityscape and inconvenience pedestrians. Reacting to this, Chief Justice Nagu sought clarity on how pedestrian issues had been addressed in the proposed plans.

“By proposing this new concept of flyover, how will you deal with the problem being faced by pedestrians?” Chief Justice Nagu asked while further inquiring whether the flyover enters the grid (city).

The Bench was told that the area under consideration was part of the 114-sq km Chandigarh Master Plan zone. During the hearing, the Chandigarh Administration informed the Bench that the city’s buildings were a part of its heritage; the roads could not be treated as the same.

Appearing before the Bench, UT senior standing counsel Amit Jhanji asserted the proposed site fell on a national highway and that the flyover was a necessity in view of present-day traffic requirements. The court was told that the matter had been pending for several years. The tender was expected to be finalized at around Rs 281 crore, against the initially estimated cost of Rs 184 crore. The Bench observed that Tribune Chowk was indeed one of the most congested areas in the city. Advocate Tanu Bedi, assisting the court, pointed out that congestion was not limited to that spot alone. “So is the Manimajra light point, the railway station junction, Matka Chowk and Sector 15 — so the entire city will be flyover one day,” she said.

Referring to the larger planning context, Bedi asserted: “It is not heritage at all. A city, not only Chandigarh, any city in any country, in any part of India, is designed and developed as per a master plan. The master plan does not recommend it. They are going on the lines of Engineering Department — their own urban planning department. For whatever reason, they have totally disowned them. Some battles are not to be won, they just have to be fought. And we just want that our fight should be recorded in the order.”

UT FLOATS Rs 214-CR TENDER

A tender for the construction of the flyover was floated on October 1 at an estimated cost of Rs 214.66 crore, with a completion period of 30 months from the date of award. Last date for submission of bids is November 17, and these will be opened on November 18 at 3 pm.