Chandigarh, June 4 (IANS) The central government has set up an expert committee to preserve the architectural heritage of Chandigarh, an official said here Friday.
Chandigarh administrator and Punjab Governor Shivraj Patil will head the expert committee.
‘The committee will look at both the original concept of the city as well as the maintenance of important public buildings in Chandigarh. The main focus will be on some of the buildings which are now more than half a century old and no longer do justice to the vision and original concept behind creation of the city,’ the union territory spokesperson said.
‘Member secretary of this committee is the advisor to the union territory administrator while the other members are eminent professionals who have enough expertise, in-depth knowledge and sensitivity to the planning concepts of Chandigarh and Le Corbusier’s philosophy.’
Chandigarh, which is famously known as ‘city beautiful’, was designed by legendary French architect Le Corbusier in 1950s. He originally planned this city to accommodate only 500,000 people but at present over 1.1 million people are living here.
‘The expert committee for preservation of architectural heritage of Chandigarh is likely to make its recommendations within a period of three months to the authorities concerned,’ the spokesperson said.
Chandigarh, the joint capital of Punjab and Haryana, is considered gateway to Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir.
