And who cares? Certainly not the estate office which is meant to enforce bylaws and check violations. When Outlook queried Arun Kumar, the estate officer who is also the deputy commissioner of Chandigarh (now sent back to his home cadre), on the city's mushrooming apartments, he flew off the handle: "You write whatever you want. I can't tell you anything. I have to survive. Bahut kuch karna padta hai (Many things have to be done)." Then, threateningly, "I'll see you in court."
Clearly there is more afoot than is visible. In recent months, the estate office has become known more for playing politics and creating controversies. There's a growing impression that the building lobby is quietly getting new rules passed.
Says senior architect S.D. Sharma, "When they quote Delhi, Mumbai, Calcutta etc as examples, they must remember that Chandigarh was never meant to be like them. Apartments should be confined to the southern sectors where there are already cooperative society flats, or else the green areas will vanish."
The votaries of apartments in place of bungalows, however, point to the "huge waste of prime urban space in Chandigarh" present in the northern sectors, some of which have plots of land as big as 4,000 sq yards. G.S. Lamba, legal advisor to the Chandigarh Property Dealers' Association, who has constructed nine apartments in the last year, says "most of these huge bungalows have elderly people as occupants, some living alone with servants. They find it difficult to maintain their houses. Besides, what is wrong if living in the elite sectors is made more affordable to ordinary people." Many feel that the anti-apartment arguments are elitist.
In the emerging din, where the pressure to change Chandigarh to keep up with the times and population pressures is growing stronger, voices of those like M.N. Sharma scarcely get a hearing. "If cities like Rome or Paris can retain their architectures and grandeur, then why can't we? This is the only city built after independence. Chandigarh was never meant to be like other cities. Let it be."
