Chandigarh Master Plan – 2031 15. MANIMAJRA HISTORY 15.1 INTRODUCTION Manimajra located on the Old Ropar Road has a rich cultural background with a historic fort and Gurudwara Manji Sahib in the The town of Manimajra has been taken up as a separate chapter in hub of the town. This fort is presently under the management of view of its stature as a census town and due to its unique a trust and is being used as a residence of a trustee and is out of characteristics, historicity and prime location amidst the large urban bounds for the visitors while the Gurudwara once a residence of agglomeration. Located on the interstate border with Haryana, the Mata Raj Kaur is now known as Gurudwara Manji Sahib and has towns of Panchkula, Shree Mata Mansa Devi Complex, Pinjore Kalka been taken up by the Shiromini Prabandhak Committee . Complex and the Chandimandir Cantonment adjoin/are in close According to a legend Raj Kaur who was obliged to abandon her proximity to it. While the residents of the town now also enjoy some temple retaliated by pronouncing a curse on all who should erect of the social infrastructure of the neighbouring towns in terms of a building higher than the present height of the temple. According education, health, recreation etc. Manimajra provides a range of to the legend it was this curse which caused the extinction of the formal and informal services found wanting in neighbouring towns Raja’s family, as Gopal Singh’s fortress was made higher than the and this role it has performed all along while the urban towns took Gurudwara. shape. Having grown from a small village, at the time of the The curse is believed to be still effective, and instrument in the inception of the original plan, it has transformed from a pure rural to recent increase in height of the Gurudawra that the people of a peri urban to an urban town. Major portion of its revenue area Manimajra recently collected for the purpose of increasing the has been acquired by the Chandigarh Administration for setting up height of the Gurudwara, and so making it safe to build higher various pockets such as the IT park etc. Of the total area of houses. (Refer background note as Annexure M7) 855 acres of the town which include the fort, the old abadi area of Manimajra, various planned and non planned townships / settlements and the eleven planned pockets around it, most of the area has already been developed as various housing, commercial and cultural schemes. Bereft of land, the town has only 222 acres (Refer Table no. M5) of land remaining to be developed and has no scope THE OLD HISTORIC for horizontal expansion. FORT Though various plans have been prepared to regulate the development in the area, a holistic integration and synergy between Manimajra and the main town of Chandigarh has not been attempted earlier. The Chandigarh Master Plan -2031, recognises the towns position as an important entity of the UT of Chandigarh, GURUDWARA MANJI SAHIB amidst the growing region. The endeavor of the Master Plan is to AS PER LEGEND, THE recognize the strengths of the town, addresses the gaps, and forsee GURUDWARA‘S HEIGHT GOVERNS the challenges to prepare the town towards a sustainable future THE MAXIMUM HEIGHT OF while it preserves , conserves and maintains it historical legacy. BUILDINGS IN MANIMAJRA 371 Chandigarh Master Plan – 2031 Location PLAN M1 – LOCATION OF MANIMAJRA Manimajra is situated on the old Ropar-Shimla road at a distance of MANIMAJRA approximately 8 Km on the North East of Chandigarh across Sukhna Choe. The town is connected with Chandigarh by the 200’ wide Chandigarh Kalka road leading upto NH 22 to Shimla. Two additional links, one along Kishangarh and other Route No. 3 also connect the town. However, these two roads are cut across by the railway line which acts as an impediment in the smooth connectivity . The town is bound by the natural nallah emanating from the Shivalik Hills on the north eastern side, the Chandigarh Kalka railway track on the south-west and north-west sides and the interstate boundary on its south-eastern side. The township is surrounded by new developments of Rajiv Gandhi Information & Technology Park and Mansa Devi Housing Complex (Haryana) towards the north and the Panchkula Township on the east. 1966 - Number of new urban settlements/establishments of the Growth pattern Central Government viz. Hindustan Machine Tools (HMT), Chandimandir Cantonment, Air Force Station, and the township of 1952 – at the time of the preparation of the original plan in 1952, Panchkula by the Government of Haryana were set up in the Manimajra was a small village and fell outside the sectoral grid of vicinity of Manimajra. Chandigarh within the Periphery Controlled Area. While the revenue area of Manimajra came under the purview of the Punjab The town of Manimajra which witnessed inorganic and unplanned New Capital (Periphery) Control Act, 1952 the abadi deh of the growth around the old fort transformed from a rural to an urban village was exempted from the Act. area while it also served as a commercial /service centre for the upcoming developments. 1961 – Manimajra was classified as a ‘Census Town’ in the Census Report of 1961 1976 – in April 1976, 840 acres of land comprising of Manimajra Town and the adjoining areas was declared as a Notified Area and a Notified Area Committee was set up for its planned development. 372 Chandigarh Master Plan – 2031 Growth of Manimajra Town MANIMAJRA TOWN AND THE OLD FORT RAILWAY LINE 1961 – 2001 - the population of Manimajra was 9941 in 1961 which rose to 44710 in 1991 and to 117046 in 2001. The town witnessed a decadal growth of REHABILITATION PIPLIWALA TOWN as high as 50% during 1971 -1981 and COLONY MANIMAJRA 55% during 1981 to 2001. • MARIWALA TOWN TOWN PARK Table M1 - Growth of population Years Population Percentage MANIMAJRA FORT Growth 1961 9941 - 1971 14197 30% 1981 28001 50% 1991 44710 38% 2001 117046 55% SOURCE : GOOGLE EARTH 373 Chandigarh Master Plan – 2031 1977 – Manimajra alongwith Chandigarh, Panchkula, Mohali and 1998 - Since the construction in the old abadi of Manimajra could HMT were included in the urban area of the Chandigarh Urban not conform to the Capital of Punjab (Development & Regulation) Complex Plan (CUC) (Refer Plan M ) prepared on the directions of Act, 1952, the Chandigarh Administration vide notification dated the High Powered Interstate Coordination Committee constituted 7th January, 1998 exempted the unacquired area of the old abadi by the Government of India to regulate the developments area of Manimajra from the operation of the said Act . around Chandigarh. A Draft Landuse Plan for Manimajra was prepared by the Department of Urban Planning, Chandigarh 2007 – Vide order dated 21/8/2007, the Chandigarh Administration same was not finalized. Administration constituted a committee under the Chairmanship of the Finance Secretary-cum-Secretary, Urban Planning, 1982-1985 – Large scale unauthorised construction activity was Chandigarh Administration with Commissioner, Municipal witnessed in the Manimajra Town many of which were Corporation, Chief Architect, UT, Chief Engineer, UT, Deputy regularised by NAC. Regularisation of the construction however Commissioner, UT, Director Higher Education UT, S.S.P UT, led to further unauthorised construction mainly concentrated Director Transport UT, DPI (schools), Director Health Services UT around Pipliwala Town and Bangala Basti. as members to formulate an integrated development plan for the Manimajra Town after taking a holistic view of education, health, 1990 - In order to check unauthorized and unplanned transport, housing and social infrastructure etc. development, NAC Manimajra decided to acquire the vacant land outside the old abadi area. A Landuse Plan was prepared for 855 acres which included 840 acres of area within NAC limits and 15 2009 - The Municipal Corporation submitted the revised acres outside the NAC limits . This plan was approved by Development Plan for Manimajra based on the recommendations Chandigarh Administration on 15/8/1991 (Refer Plan M2) of the committee .The recommendations included readjustments of certain landuses from the approved Development Plan 1990, 1994 - Vide notification dated 27th July, 1994, the area of NAC widening of roads, creation of green belts and setting up of town Manimajra was included within the limits of the Municipal level infrastructure etc. Corporation, Chandigarh. The broad landuse of various pockets except for pocket 2, 3, 4 & 5 As the provisions of the Capital of Punjab (Development & were approved by the Chief Administrator, UT vide order dated Regulation) Act, 1952 had been extended to Manimajra, the 29.12.2009. The Municipal Corporation was directed to submit building rules of Chandigarh became applicable to the area . detailed planning of Manimajra vide letter dated 20.10.2009. The same was however since the same was not sent, the plan was not finalized. 374 Chandigarh Master Plan – 2031 15.2 DEVELOPMENT PLANS OF MANIMAJRA H.M.T. PINJORE To address the mounting pressure on land around Manimajra and ensure the planned development of the area especially between Chandigarh and the Manimajra, the Chandigarh Administration and the Municipal Corporation have over the years prepared a number of development plans for Manimajra. The details are as under: 1977 – The Chandigarh Urban Complex Plan was prepared PUNJAB MANIMAJRA on the directions of the High Powered Coordination committee constituted by the Government of India to PANCHKULA regulate developments around Chandigarh which provided integrated developments of Chandigarh Panchkula, Mohali, HMT and Manimajra. CHANDIGARH The same year, the Draft Land Use Plan of Manimajra was prepared by the Department of Urban Planning in 1977. However, no action to finalize the Master Plan was taken. 2 PUNJAB MOHALI CHANDIGARH URBAN COMPLEX PLAN 375 Chandigarh Master Plan – 2031 Development plan of Manimajra - 1990 The Revised Development Plan of Manimajra was prepared in the PLAN M2 DEVELOPMENT PLAN OF MANIMAJRA-1990 year 1990 by the Department of Urban Planning, UT to guide and channelise further development of Manimajra in a planned manner in consonance with the Chandigarh Urban Complex Plan.