Mani Majra to be Sector M

Ramkrishan Upadhyay
Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, November 20

More than 60 years after the creation of Chandigarh, the UT Administration has started the process of renaming city areas whose names are not based on the sectoral grid.

Sources said the renaming process was started on the directions of UT Adviser Manoj Kumar Parida after the Administration received a number of representations from people for renaming these areas.

A meeting was held over the issue recently in which a proposal for renaming these areas was prepared. As per the proposal, areas in the west of Chandigarh, which have not been allocated any sector, will be renamed as Sector 12 (West), Sector 14 (West), Sector 39 (West) and Sector 56 (West).

Similarly, areas in the east around IT Park shall be named as IT Park 1, IT Park 2 and IT Park 3. As per the proposal, Mani Majra will be renamed as Sector M (with pocket numbers).

The Industrial Area, Phase 1 and Phase 2, will be renamed as Business and Industrial Park, Phase 1 and 2. The sources said the final notification would be issued after getting approval from UT Administrator VP Singh Badnore. Residents of Milk Colony, Dhanas, have been demanding for long that the colony be renamed as Sector 14 (West).

The sources said renaming would bring uniformity and no one living in any part of the city would feel isolated.

While Le Corbusier had designed the city on a sector basis, certain areas were left with their original names. An official of the UT Administration said with the passage of time, villages and Mani Majra areas had been developed on the pattern of sectors. All laws and regulations of sectors were also applicable to these areas; so renaming will not affect these.

A population of over 2 lakh resides in the Mani Majra area, which also has Housing Board flats.

Charanjiv Singh, a nominated councillor, hailed the move and said it would bring uniformity in the city.