Summit on Urban Transformation: ‘16 conflict points on Chandigarh roads’

Presenting a special address, Tejaswi Naik, District Magistrate and Collector, Betul, Madhya Pradesh, who has made significant contribution to Bhopal’s urban development and its entry into the list of top 20 smart cities in India, discussed the development model of Bhopal that resulted in rapid growth of the city. He talked about the concept of She-lounge implemented in Bhopal, a better version of public toilets for women where they have a clean and safe space, a concept, he suggested, should also be implemented in Chandigarh.

“Most of our population will be living in cities in the coming times. Gone are the days when India lived in villages,” said Naik.

Kumar Saurabh, Deputy Commissioner, Faridkot, discussed the issue of urban mobility. He talked about the problem of congestion in Chandigarh and rued that the city originally designed for 5 lakh population now had to grapple with 12 lakh people. Kumar Saurabh in his presentation illustrated the grid iron pattern of Chandigarh designed by Le Corbusier and how it creates 16 conflict points where accidents can occur.”The number of minor accidents is very high in Chandigarh due to 16 conflict zones,” said Kumar Saurabh. He suggested that it is important to develop efficient ways to control congestion in the region.

Mukesh Anand, Special Secretary-cum-Chief Engineer, Chandigarh Administration, dwelt on the Capitol Complex. “It is a concrete building and require intensive care,” said Anand. He also discussed the issue of floating population coming from adjoining area in Chandigarh, increasing the issue of congestion.

Deep Jyoti, Deputy Secretary, Department of Governance Reforms, Government of Punjab, focused on E-offices function and how they reduce the workload and improve efficiency of government offices. “By the next year all offices in Punjab will have E-offices,” said Deep Jyoti.