Civic body ‘admits fault’, goes roundabout

Ramkrishan Upadhyay

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, April 21

Four days after Chandigarh Tribune highlighted the issue of a change in the design of roundabouts in the city, the Municipal Corporation has “accepted its fault” and has started restoring these to their original look.

Though the engineering wing of the MC has tried to restore the original look of the roundabouts, experts are still not happy with the design.

The MC had made a deep cut into two roundabouts at Sector 32 and 20 on Dakshin Marg, which was almost 2-metre wide and 1-metre deep, to make way for road gullies.

This did not go down well with residents and experts, who termed it interference with the original character of the city.

When the issue was raised in these columns on April 17, the MC took corrective steps and made holes in the wall while removing the cut.

RK Garg, a social activist who raised the issue earlier, said making holes in the wall of the roundabouts was also faulty. He said the MC had still not restored its original look. The holes are not looking good. Instead, the MC must make some other arrangements so that the basic design of the roundabouts remains intact.

The MC had started making additional road gullies in some roundabouts in the city to prevent flooding during the rainy season.

Ajay Jagga, a member of the Heritage Protection Cell of the Chandigarh Administration, said the roundabouts had become the identity of the city and were a part of its heritage; so any change could only be made after getting approval from the Chandigarh Heritage Conservation Committee.

Design change had irked locals

• The MC had made a deep cut in two roundabouts at Sector 32 and 20 on Dakshin Marg.
• The cut was almost 2-metre wide and 1-metre deep and was aimed at making way for road gullies.
• The MC had started making more road gullies in roundabouts to prevent flooding during the rains.
• This did not go down well with residents, who termed it interference with the original character of the city.