Town Planning

MLe Corbusier, the planner of Chandigarh, has set his heart on the City Centre for Chandigarh, the new capital of the new State of Punjab, of whose planning he has been in charge since the very beginning. He is keen to have the minutest details executed according to pattern set by him.

The City Centre of Punjab's new capital will be something like New Delhi's Cannaught Place in a rectangular form, with the various blocks connected by overbridges, with an 11-storey building, a water tower and a lake in the centre-all moulded in Chandigarh's typical architecture.

It is to be constructed on the 240-acre tract on the intersection of the two main

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plots, in Madras city, which is in addition to the construction of tenements for slum dwellers. Under this scheme each slum-dweller will be given 1,000 sqr. ft. of space, Rs. 125 worth of materials like thatches and bamboos, and Rs. 25 cash for putting up his own hutment. Each developed plot, which will have a flush-out latrine, will cost Government Rs. 1,250. These plots will be avilable to slum-dwellers at a monthly rent of Rs. 2. In Madras City the scheme will be carried out through the Corporation and Trust at a cost of Rs. 131 laks. The Inspector of Local Boards will work out the scheme for Madurai, Tiruchirapali, Salem and Coimbatore where also the problem is very acute. Rs. 32.49 laks is being alloted for this purpose.

Slum Clearance In Nainital

Through the personal efforts of the State. Governor Mr. V. V. Giri and the special interest of Mr. K. C. Reddy, the Union Housing Minister, and Pandit G. B. Pant, the Union Home Minister, a sum of Rs. 5 laks has been allotted for slum clearance in Nainital, the former summer capital of U. P. This will be the only hill station in India where slum clearance work will be undertaken under the national scheme. There are about 4,000 to 5,000 slum dwellers among Nainital's permanent population, according to Governor Giri, who has visited some of the slum areas of this hill station.

all-traffic roads, one linking the city with the railway station and the other with the capitol. Broadly defined, it will have three distinct parts-the commercial cum civic zone, small shop cum flat zone and the district administration area.

The commercial wing has been conceived as an Indian entity. The entire development is grouped around a chowk or a piazza, the crossing of two wide pedestrian ways. Around it will be the comparatively important buildings-the Town Hall, the Central Library, the Post and Telegraph offices, Chamber of Commerce, insurance and bank offices.

Exodus From Viallges

It is estimated that every year eight million people migrate from villages to the towns in India.

Shoping Arcades

To eliminate the possibility of a "dead appearance" at night the ground floor is to be compulsorily devoted to shops so as to ensure unbroken rows of brightly-lit show windows, with the magic of open neon lights. Thus, even the banks, the picture houses and the library will have to make this aestehtic

concession.

With verandahs both in the front and rear of shops and with planned connections at junctions of blocks in green courts, the pedestrian will have a covered arcade to go from shop to shop.

The pedestrian's feedom has been further respected by proposed segregation of vehicular traffic. Car circulation is to be channe

lised in a ring road with bridges at crossings. Vast parking areas are provided in the vicinity of the chowk.

The pace of development in Chandigarh has, however, been disappointingly tardy, with hardly 10 percent of the 350 plots in this area disposed of. While three multi-storey Govenment buildings, housing the State Bank, the public library and the Life Insurance Corporation's zonal office stand in lonely grandeur, the private sector has been quite shy. The Union Government get their own

share of criticism. The 11-storey building

the "centre of gravity" for Chandigarh-is their responsibility. It is to house the Post and Telegraph and other offices of the Central Government. They are, however, reluctant to have all the 11 storeyes to start with on the plea that their space needs are not much. M. Le Corbusier would not permit even one storey less. Now the State Government has offered a way out by agreeing to take on rent the spare accommodation in a bid to induce the Centre to think in terms of the whole building.

Tempo Of Construction

According to recent reports the tempo of construction in Chandigarh is being stepped up to enable the Capital Project Department to liquidate itself by the end of the Second Plan. As a concrete step in this rection, work on the Legislative Chamberthe biggest Governmental programme in hand-is to start through double shifts.

The State Government has also under consideration the question of renewing the term of M. Le Corbusier, the French planner of Chandigarh, which is due to expire in February. M. Corbusier visits Chandigarh twice a year and is paid at the rate of £30,000 a year plus £30 daily for the duration of stay and the passage both ways. A final decision will depend on the assessment whether the construction and designing has gone sufficiently ahead as to enable the Indian architects to give the finishing touches. In case it is decided to renew his term, the Centre's sanction would be necessary in view of the foreign exchange involved.

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Designs have been invited for houses estimated to cost not more than Rs. 1,000, Rs. 1,500 and Rs. 2,500 (each exclusive of the cost of land) in each of the three regionshot-arid, hot-humid and hilly areas. A committe of Assessors consisting of a nominee each of the Government of India, the Indian Institute of Architects and the Institution of Engineers (India) will adjudge the competition.

Houses For Police

The Union Government has advanced in the last three years over Rs. 61 crores as loan to State Governments for police housing schemes. The allocation for 1959-60 is Rs. 3 crores.