Chandigarh, June 4
With an aim to preserve the architectural heritage of the City Beautiful, as it was originally envisaged, the Government of India has set up an expert committee under the chairmanship of Punjab Governor and UT administrator Shivraj V Patil.
The committee will look at both the original concept of the city as well as maintenance of the important public buildings in the city. The focus will be on some of the buildings in the city, which are now more than half-a-century-old.
The member-secretary of the committee is adviser to the UT administrator, while other members are eminent professionals, who have professional expertise, in-depth knowledge and sensitivity to the planning concepts of Chandigarh and Le Corbusier’s philosophy. The UT administrator had recommended the names of some experts to be included in the committee and as per his recommendations, the Government of India has constituted the committee.
Those who will be members of the committee are nominee of Ministry of Culture, nominee of Ministry of Urban Development, nominee of Ministry of Home Affairs, SS Bhatti, retired principal of Chandigarh College of Architecture, Raj Rewal, architect, Renu Saigal, former chief architect, Chandigarh, Madhu Sarin, architect and town planner, Chand Nehru, Jai Singh Gill, former chairman of the Punjab State Electricity Regulatory Commission, Manoj Datta, director, PEC University of Technology, and BN Goswamy, art historian.
The expert committee for preservation of architectural heritage of Chandigarh is likely to make its recommendations within three months.