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Journalism of Courage
With Chandigarh being a landlocked city leaving little scope for expansion,it is the development in the periphery that is adding to the burden on the citys infrastructure. The focus of the development in the peripheral areas is on housing projects with civic amenities as well as essential services not being adequate. And Chandigarh is being forced to cater to the needs of its own residents which would increase in the coming years as well as the expansion in the periphery.
As per a study by the Centre for Research in Rural and Industrial Development (CRRID),the population of Chandigarh will increase to 12.47 lakh in the year 2025,an increase of around 2 lakh people. The population density would rise to 10,946 persons per sq kilometre. The census data for the year 2011 reveals that the city has a population of 10.55 lakh. The rise in the population would put a burden on the physical infrastructure,especially housing,education and health.
Sharma says Chandigarh is unique in a way that unlike other places,it is a landlocked city and there is not much scope for expansion. The zoning is well-defined so one knows how many people would fit into a particular area. The population is being redistributed and people from Chandigarh are moving to the periphery for finding accommodation. However,those areas are not well equipped with any other amenities apart from houses. The burden to provide health and education facilities then falls on Chandigarh, says Sharma.
The areas surrounding Chandigarh like Mohali and Zirakpur have not witnessed planned development. With its numerous housing societies,Zirakpur is an urban jungle. However,there is little in terms of facilities that are present here. In fact,during peak hours,the traffic congestion in the city is quite high. This is because of the floating population from the adjoining areas. The proposal of the Punjab government to develop Mullanpur and rename it New Chandigarh is being looked at with apprehension.
Dr Rajnish Wattas,former principal of Chandigarh College of Architecture and member of the Master Plan Committee,says that Chandigarh is the biggest urban experiment and there is a need to preserve it. There is no infrastructure in the peripheral areas. The number of hospitals and educational institutions is not adequate. The city has to deal with traffic congestion due to vehicles from adjoining areas. Our main roads like Madhya Marg and Dakshin Marg are choked due to traffic movement from one state to the other, says Dr Wattas.
While inter-state co-ordination committees have been constituted,these seem to be serving little purpose. Even though Chandigarh has repeatedly asked the Punjab and Haryana governments to upgrade the facilities being provided,not much seems to have been done.
With the Punjab government announcing development of New Chandigarh,it has set the officials of the administration as well as experts thinking about the harm that can be caused to the city. Even though projects like Educity and Medicity are planned for Mullanpur,the outcome would be clear in the coming months.
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