Don’t convert single units in Chandigarh into apartments: Supreme Court

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Tuesday banned conversion of single dwelling units into apartments in Chandigarh Phase-I finding the "unscrupulous and illegal practice" destructive of its famed heritage city plan designed by acclaimed urban planner Le Corbusier.
Issuing a series of directions to protect and preserve the beauty and character of 70-year-old Chandigarh as per the original plan, a bench of Justices B R Gavai and B V Nagarathna appealed to the Centre and state governments to make environment impact assessment (EIA) must for every urbanisation plan by learning from civic and transportation woes in Bengaluru due to unplanned development.
Writing the 131-page judgment and analysing in detail the cascading effects of unplanned development driven mainly by realtors in nexus with politicians and bureaucrats, Justice Gavai said, “It is high time that the legislature, the executive and the policy-makers at the Centre as well as at the state levels take note of the damage to the environment on account of haphazard developments and take a call to take the necessary measures to ensure that development does not damage the environment.”
Ordering the SC registry to send copies of the judgment to the cabinet secretary and chief secretaries of the states, Justice Gavai said, “It is necessary that a proper balance is struck between sustainable development and environmental protection.”
On division of Punjab to carve out Haryana, Chandigarh was made a Union territory and capital of both the states. The city developed in two phases, Phase-I having Sectors 1 to 30 and Phase-II having Sectors 31 to 47. Phase-I was designed for low-rise plotted development for a total population of 1,50,000. Phase-II Sectors were to have a much higher density as compared to Phase-I sectors.
Allowing the appeal of a residents welfare association, the SC said the beauty and planning of the city is being scarred beyond repair through construction of apartments on single dwelling plots, thus violating the low density of population envisaged as per the original plan for Phase-I despite it being prohibited under the Chandigarh Master Plan 2031.
Restraining Chandigarh administration from sanctioning any building plan proposing to convert a single dwelling unit into apartments, the SC said, “no memorandum of understanding or agreement or settlement amongst co-owners of a residential unit shall be registered nor shall it be enforceable in law for the purpose of bifurcation or division of a single residential unit into floor-wise apartments”.