Chandigarh residents are set to receive decisions on three of the city’s four long-pending demands immediately after Diwali, Union home minister Amit Shah announced at Chandigarh Police’s 60th Raising Day celebrations on Sunday. He also announced a Rs 258-crore development package covering two completed projects and seven new works across the Union territory.
Shah did not specify which three demands would be resolved. The issues being pursued by the Chandigarh administration with the Centre include permanent ownership rights for rehabilitation-colony residents, extending the mayor’s tenure from one year to 2.5 years, converting leasehold commercial and industrial properties into freehold, and amendments to the Chandigarh Master Plan.
Speaking at Tiranga Park in Sector 17, Shah said Punjab Governor and Chandigarh administrator Gulab Chand Kataria had repeatedly followed up on issues that had remained unresolved for 30 to 40 years. Shah said Kataria would announce the decisions at a separate programme because the administrator had studied the matters in detail and worked on possible solutions.
“Three of the four issues will be addressed by Kataria ji immediately after Diwali as a Diwali gift,” Shah said, according to the report. He added that Chandigarh residents would hear about the resolution of the three issues within a week. The administration has already moved the Centre on the proposals. The Chandigarh Heritage Conservation Committee recently approved the UT administration’s proposal to amend the Master Plan, while proposals relating to ownership rights for rehabilitation-colony allottees and freehold conversion of leasehold commercial and industrial properties have also been submitted.
The announcements concern different parts of Chandigarh’s urban administration. Ownership rights would affect residents of rehabilitation colonies, while freehold conversion relates to the tenure and control of commercial and industrial properties. The mayoral-tenure proposal concerns the functioning of the city’s civic leadership, and Master Plan amendments would shape the framework governing land use and development. The specific combination of demands to be cleared, however, was not disclosed at the event.
The development package includes two projects inaugurated at the function. A Government High School at Sarangpur has been built at a cost of Rs 12 crore, while a CTU bus depot at Raipur Kalan has been developed at a cost of Rs 68 crore. Shah said the Raipur Kalan facility would be developed as the country’s number one inter-state bus depot.
The seven projects receiving foundation stones involve a combined investment of Rs 178 crore. They include 192 Type-III houses at the Chandigarh Armed Police complex in Dhanas, a pedestrian subway connecting the General Hospital side with Panjab University, and a new police station in Sector 49. The package also covers a boys’ hostel at Chandigarh College of Engineering and Technology in Sector 26, a gymnasium hall at Government College in Sector 46, an upgrade to the Sector 7 sports complex and 15 security checkposts at the city’s entry and border points.
The housing project is estimated to cost Rs 84 crore, while the pedestrian subway has an estimated cost of Rs 12 crore. The Sector 49 police station will cost Rs 21 crore, the CCET hostel Rs 25 crore, the Sector 46 gymnasium Rs 11 crore, the Sector 7 sports complex upgrade Rs 20 crore and the entry-point checkposts Rs 5 crore.
Shah also cited Chandigarh Police’s performance in national assessments, saying it ranked first in beat policing, second in police response and first in implementing the three new criminal laws. The next stated milestone is a separate announcement by Kataria after Diwali on the three demands selected for resolution.
