‘Destroying Natural Heritage a Failure of Responsible Management’: Residents’ March for Protection of Chandigarh Rock Garden

Anuj Saini, Nek Chand’s son, said that the Engineering Department has said this wall was never a part of the Rock Garden, but this claim is completely baseless.

Saving Chandigarh, a group comprising several citizens of Chandigarh working towards its protection and preservation, organised a march on Friday near the high court parking to save Chandigarh’s iconic identity, Nek Chand’s Rock Garden.

Last week, bulldozers damaged a large section of the wall in Phase 3 and cut down hundreds of trees for a road-widening project to facilitate the expansion of the parking at the Punjab and Haryana High Court. Since then, several citizens have questioned the orders for this move. Destroying this natural heritage to create commercial properties is not just an environmental loss but a failure of responsible management reflected by the core committee members of the group, Deepika Gandhi, R K Garg, Paveela Bali, Amrita Singh, Samita Kaur, Amandeep Singh, and Priyanka Saini.

As part of the march, citizens shared concerns about the dangers of clearing natural resources and how a responsible approach demands that development and conservation coexist. Satinder Singh Randhawa, an advocate and grandson of Dr M S Randhawa, the great horticulturist who selected and designed each avenue of trees of Chandigarh, said that the demolition of part of the Rock Garden seems to be an ill-thought idea without any concrete plan to reduce the traffic chaos around the high court. There are much better solutions to manage the traffic situation.

Thespian Neelam Mansingh Chowdhry said that a heritage wall was demolished to accommodate a parking space, and it’s “unbelievable that a more imaginative solution was not found to the parking woes”. “My relationship with Rock Garden and Nek Chand has a long history. The beautifully designed amphitheatre was the space where I performed all my shows. I saw the Rock Garden as an extension of my home, and Nek Chand had the generosity to let me believe this fantasy. We as citizens of the city need to stop this travesty,” she said.

Anuj Saini, Nek Chand’s son, said that the Engineering Department has said that this wall was never a part of the Rock Garden, but this claim is completely baseless. “How can a wall, built 30-40 years ago under the supervision of my father, Nek Chand, not be considered a part of the Rock Garden? The only reason he couldn’t complete this wall during his lifetime was that he had bigger plans for this space — plans that he shared with me,” added Saini.

Until the project could begin, Nek Chand had collected a significant amount of waste material here, carefully preserving it for the future. He knew that if any part of his creation ever broke, it could be restored using these materials, his son claimed. Many of these items are now impossible to find, as factories have stopped producing them.

“That material wasn’t just debris — it was a treasure trove. I am shocked why there was such an urgent need to bring in JCB machines overnight and tear down the wall in such a rushed and secretive manner,” he asked.

Rajnish Wattas, former principal of the Chandigarh College of Architecture, and member of the Chandigarh Heritage Committee said the entire incident needs to be looked at from a larger perspective. In Corbusier’s Master Plan, from the Rajendra Garden to the lake is the Capitol Park, a complete green area, he said.

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“The gain of this entire exercise of creating parking is very little, maybe only 20 seconds of gain. We need to consider the fundamentals on which this city was made. The city, including those in power, will need to decide if we want to live by the principles of the master plan and preserve one oasis of excellence in a sea of chaotic urbanisation. Do we cherish or dilute it? These are signals of an attitudinal crisis, and it is easy to justify any decision when you can monetise it. Urban mobility is an issue, and we are only buying time, and the need is to look at this one example of urban excellence with pride. Like in many cities across the world, find solutions, golf carts, minibuses, and shuttle services to give the public ease. If not today, a few years later, we will have to. In the formal grid system, Nek Chand’s Garden is an interesting counterpart,” added Wattas.