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Meet the man who ensured Panchkula met Tricity’s lofty standards
Nayyar wouldn’t settle for Panchkula as a mere sub-division. In 1991, they pushed for and won that status. Then he led 45 citizens to meet then Chief Minister Bhajan Lal, demanding full district hood.
At 79, this retired assistant director has become Panchkula’s quiet architect, piecing it together through sheer grit and smart advocacy. (Express Photo)
Back in 1987, when S K Nayyar unlocked his new home in Panchkula, it was no polished satellite city. It felt like a dusty kasba, cut off from Chandigarh with no smooth roads, no streetlights piercing the nights, and none of the basics like schools or even a gas agency. Most folks would have grumbled or packed up for Chandigarh’s comforts. But Nayyar, then an official at the Bhakra Beas Management Board, saw a raw canvas begging for action.
At 79, this retired assistant director has become Panchkula’s quiet architect, piecing it together through sheer grit and smart advocacy. In the late 80s, he helped spark the Panchkula Residents Welfare Federation. By the early 90s, he led the Citizens’ Welfare Association. His style was never about shouting matches. It was a disciplined presence that spoke louder than words. Take the gas crisis. They rolled out a silent procession: 200 cars, 250 two-wheelers, 3,500 walkers from 11-15 Chowk to the SDM’s house. No chants needed. The sheer numbers cracked open the gates and gas deliveries started that day.
Nayyar wouldn’t settle for Panchkula as a mere sub-division. In 1991, they pushed for and won that status. Then he led 45 citizens to meet then Chief Minister Bhajan Lal, demanding full district hood. They got it. From there, victories piled up. They petitioned the high court for local courts, secured land for four post offices, and a big one in Sector 8. When Chandigarh tried to axe metro plans at the IT Park, Nayyar stepped in to extend lines to Sectors 21 and 25. Even in 2015, he cornered then Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar at an open darbar to lock in land for a medical college in Sector 32.
Three awards from the Panchkula administration (1992, 2007, 2013) sit as trophies, but ego clashes and stalled projects never dimmed his fire. “Inner consciousness drove me,” he says, crediting a middle-class upbringing and a father who lived for others. Now he turns to the young. “Every youth in Panchkula should pitch in. A few hours a week can transform a neighborhood.”
Nayyar didn’t just live in Panchkula. He built its soul, proving cities rise not from concrete alone, but from people who step up and stay the course.
Asmita Maini is an intern with The Indian Express
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