Don’t want Chandigarh to be another Bengaluru, warns Supreme Court in order banning apartmentalization

The Supreme Court has observed that Bengaluru, which was erstwhile considered to beryllium among India’s champion cities, was present struggling connected relationship of unsystematic and thoughtless construction.

The metropolis is having to woody with heavy floods and waterlogging, shortage of potable water, nightmarish postulation jams, mediocre garbage disposal and rapidly shrinking h2o bodies, the apex tribunal said.

A part seat comprising Justices B.R. Gavai and BV Nagarathna said connected January 10 that “the informing flagged by the metropolis of Bengaluru needs to beryllium fixed owed attraction by the legislature, enforcement and the policymakers.  It is precocious clip that earlier permitting municipality development, EIA (environmental interaction assessment) of specified improvement needs to beryllium done.”

“Before we portion with this judgement,” Justice Gavai wrote successful the ruling, “we observe that it is precocious clip that the legislature, executive, and the policymakers astatine the centre and authorities levels instrumentality enactment of the harm to the situation connected relationship of haphazard improvement and instrumentality a telephone to instrumentality indispensable measures to guarantee that the improvement does not harm the environment.”

The apex tribunal made these observations portion proceeding a plea by residents of the bluish portion of Chandigarh who are resisting the administration’s signifier of converting azygous residential units into apartments.

The residents said successful their plea that the signifier prevalent successful Chandigarh metropolis of converting azygous residential units into apartments had irrevocably altered the quality of the archetypal planned metropolis of India, and overburdened the existing infrastructure and facilities.

Referring to a screen communicative published successful India Today successful October 2022, titled Bengaluru – How to Ruin India’s Best City, the seat said the nonfiction depicted the atrocious authorities of affairs arsenic to however Bengaluru, erstwhile known arsenic the plot city, had been ruined by haphazard municipality development.

Rain havoc 

The nonfiction took enactment of however connected relationship of 1 large spell of rainfall successful September of 2022, the metropolis bore the brunt of nature’s fury. Parts the city   were inundated by dense rain.

The nonaccomplishment the flood caused to the Outer Ring roadworthy tech corridor unsocial was estimated to beryllium implicit Rs.225 crore, the seat observed.

The nonfiction noted that portion dense rains had submerged galore houses, connected the different hand, the metropolis faced a immense shortage of drinking water, the seat observed.

The nonfiction said the accelerated enlargement of the city, with nary thought fixed to proscription and easiness of mobility, had led to nightmarish postulation jams connected its arterial roads.

It notes that, astir overnight, Bengaluru's municipal jurisdiction had grown from 200 sq. km. to 800 sq. km.

The nonfiction observed that the lone 1 to payment had been a politician-­businessman-­builder nexus and though posh colonies had mushroomed successful caller areas, the infrastructure had  lagged behind. Roads remained narrow, the drainage poor, and nary capable proviso had been made for garbage disposal, the seat noted.

Water bodies 

The nonfiction said superior canals, known locally as rajakaluves, were once  natural  rain­fed  streams crossed which farmers built tiny bunds implicit time, to apprehension the travel of h2o and make lakes.

It notes that these interlinked man­made lakes worked arsenic a storm­water drain network.  However, successful bid to conscionable the request for abstraction for operation and roads, the administrators allowed the lakes to beryllium breached regularly.

The lakes, which erstwhile numbered 1,000-odd, are present reduced to a paltry number.  Worse, the rajakaluves that channelized the tempest h2o had buildings constructed implicit them, the bid observed.

On January 10, justices Gavai and Nagarathna came down heavy connected the Chandigarh medication for "blindly sanctioning" gathering plans and said it was evident that they were successful effect converting 1 dwelling portion into 3 apartments.

The Chandigarh case

"Such a haphazard maturation whitethorn adversely impact the practice presumption of Phase­-I of Chandigarh, which is sought to beryllium inscribed arsenic a UNESCO's practice city," the seat had said successful its 131-page order.

The apical tribunal delivered its judgement connected the appeals challenging the November 2021 verdict of the Punjab and Haryana High Court which had held that determination was nary proviso nether the Capital of Punjab (Development and Regulations) Act, 1952, oregon the rules nether it governing transportation of shares successful narration to a tract oregon gathering whether owned singly oregon jointly.

In its verdict, the apex tribunal said permitting redensification of Phase­-I, which has practice worth connected relationship of being "Corbusian Chandigarh," without the the program being approved by the Chandigarh Heritage Conservation Committee, was contrary to the Chandigarh Master Plan (CMP)­ 2031.

Corbusian is simply a notation to Le Corbusier, the French designer who planned the metropolis of Chandigarh.

The seat noted that the precocious tribunal said  "apartmentalisation" was not permissible and that though developers oregon builders were successful effect constructing 3 apartments successful a building, it did not magnitude to apartmentalisation.

"In our view, this would magnitude to permitting thing indirectly which is not permitted directly," the bid said.