It’s official: Chandigarh’s Manimajra is now Sector 13

                City Beautiful now has Sector 13. The UT administration has notified the renaming of Manimajra as Sector 13, along with renaming of certain other colonies and villages as sectors.

As per the notification, apart from Manimajra, Sarangpur Institutional Area will be renamed Sector 12 (West); Dhanas, including Milk Colony and Rehabilitation Colony, as Sector 14 (West); Maloya and Dadumajra as Sector 39 (West); and pocket number 8 below Vikas Marg as Sector 56 (West).

Industrial Area Phase 1 and 2 will be designated as Business and Industrial Park 1 and 2, respectively.

Under the Chandigarh Master Plan-2031, the reference area for planning constitutes 144 square kilometres, including 60 sectors in the sectoral grid as well as the peripheral areas around them.

French architect Le Corbusier’s Phase 1 plan was divided into a grid of 30 sectors with Capitol Complex as well as Civic Centre as its focal points, while the Phase 2 layout included Sectors 31 to 47.

Phase 1 comprised 30 low-density sectors spread over 9,000 acres (Sectors 1 to 30) for 1.5 lakh people, whereas Phase 2 consisted of 17 considerably high-density areas (Sectors 31 to 47) spread over an area of 6,000 acres for a population of 3.5 lakh. Thereafter, nine more sectors were added (Sectors 48 to 56).

WHY SECTOR 13?

The residents of Modern Housing Complex (MHC), Shivalik Enclave and Uppal Marble Arc had for long been demanding these areas to be included in the sectoral grid of the city.

Col Gursewak Singh (retd), president, Resident Welfare Association, Modern Housing Complex, said, “In February 2019, we again wrote to the UT administrator and adviser to grant the status of Sector 13 to these areas. Administration was not sure about using number 13, so they had offered to rename the area as Sector M.”

This, however, was rejected by residents. “Residents don’t consider number 13 inauspicious. In fact, it will be a fitting tribute to Guru Nanak on his 550th birth anniversary, as he shunned all forms of superstition and propagated true meaning and value of ‘tera’ (13) in his teachings,” Singh said.

ADMN HAD SOUGHT SUGGESTIONS

The administration had issued a public notice seeking objections and suggestions from residents regarding renaming several areas not covered under the sectoral grid. Residents were allowed to submit their suggestions/objections by December 16 to the UT chief architect office at Sector 9. In response, the UT administration had received around 60 objections and suggestions.

Source: Hindustan Times