Topography and Climate of Chandigarh

Topography and Climate

Chandigarh is located in the foothills of the Shivalik hill ranges in the north, which form a part of the fragile Himalayan ecosystem. It is occupied by Kandi (Bhabar) in the north east and Sirowal (Terai) and alluvial plains in the remaining part. The subsurface formation comprises of beds of boulders, pebbles, gravel, sand, silt, clays and some kankar. The area is drained by two seasonal rivulets viz. Sukhna Choe in the east and Patiala ki Rao Choe in the west. The central part forms a surface water divide and has two minor streams. The stream passing through the central part is called the N-Choe and the other is the Choe Nala which initiates at Sector 29.

Most of Chandigarh is a plain area with a few lower shivalik hills in the north.

Sukhna Lake, located in the northeast of the city is an important water body of the city.

The various choes that flow through the city play a very important role in water management in the city. They act as sponges which collect rain water and allow it to percolate and recharge the groundwater.

Chandigarh falls under Koppen's CWG category i.e. it has cold dry winter, hot summer and sub-tropical monsoon. Evaporation usually exceeds precipitation and the weather is generally dry. The area experiences four seasons:

1. Summer or hot season (mid-March to Mid-June): The dry spell of summer is long but with occasional drizzles or thunder storms. May and June are the hottest months of the year with the mean daily maximum and minimum temperatures being about 37^oC and 25^oC respectively. Maximum temperatures can rise up to 44^oC.
2. Rainy season (late-June to mid-September): Southwest monsoons with high intensity showers commence in late June. The weather at this time is hot and humid. The variation of annual rainfall on year to year basis is appreciable i.e. 700 mm to 1200 mm. The 20-year average rainfall for Chandigarh is 1100.7 mm.
3. Post-monsoon autumn/transition season (mid-September to mid-November): 
4. Winter (mid-November to mid-March): January is the coldest month with mean maximum and minimum temperatures being around 23^oC and 3.6^oC respectively. Winds are generally light and blow from northwest to southeast direction with exception of easterly to southeasterly winds that blow on some days during the summer season.

History of Chandigarh

History

Chandigarh has a pre-historic past. The fossil remains found at the site of the city indicate a large variety of aquatic and amphibian life in the ancient past. This indicates that the gently sloping plains on which Chandigarh stands today, were in the ancient past, a wide lake ringed by a marsh. The area was also known to the Harappans.

Since the medieval through modern era, the area was part of the region known as Punjab. With the partition of the subcontinent into India and Pakistan, Punjab was also divided into two parts - East Punjab (India) and West Punjab (Pakistan). With this division, the capital city of the undivided Punjab, Lahore, fell in Pakistan thus leaving East Punjab without a capital. It was decided to build a new capital city called Chandigarh. The city was concieved not only to serve as the capital of East Punjab, but also to resettle thousands of refugees who had been uprooted from West Punjab. 

 

Map 1: Undivided Punjab - The map shows Punjab during the British rule. The dark red region depicts the princely states while the green region depicts the area under direct british rule.

Map 2: East Punjab: This map shows the part of Punjab that fell in India after the partition. The orange region was called PEPSU (Patiala and East Punjab States Union; it was a state from 1948 to 1956), the green region was Punjab and the blue region was the Union Territory of Himachal (was declared UT in 1956).

Map3: The region after 1966: The map shows the three states carved out of Punjab after the Punjab Reorganisation Act, 1966. (Although Himachal was granted statehood in 1971)

To select a suitable site for the capital city, the Government of Punjab appointed a Committee in 1948 under the chairmanship of P.L. Verma (who was also the Chief Engineer of the project) to assess and evaluate the existing towns in the State for settin up the proposed capital of Punjab. However, none was found suitable on the basis of several reasons, such as military vulnerability, shortage of drinking water, inaccessibility, inability to cope with the influx of large number of refugees, etc. The present site was selected in 1948 taking into account various attributes such as its central location in the state, proximity to the national capital and the availability of sufficient water supply, fertile soil, gradient of land for natural drainage, beautiful site with the panorama of blue hills as a backdrop and moderate climate. In March 1948, the Government of Punjab, in consultation with the Government of India, approved the area of the foothills of the Shivaliks as the site for the new capital. The location of the city was a part of the erstwhile Ambala district as per the 1892-93 gazetteer of District Ambala. The city derived its name from the temple of "Chandi Mandir" located in vicinity of the selected site. The deity 'Chandi', the goddess of power, and the fort of 'garh' lying beyond the temple gave the city its name "Chandigarh".

An American firm, M/s Mayer, Whittlessay and Glass was commissioned in 1950 to prepare the master plan of the city. Albert Mayer and Mathew Novicki evolved a fan shaped Master Plan and worked out a conceptual sketches of the super block. The super block was designed as a self-sufficient neighbourhood units placed along the curvilinear roads and comprised of cluster type housing, markets and centrally located open spaces. Novicki was tragically killed in an air accident and Mayer decided to discontinue. The P. L. Verma Committee was again handed over the task of finding a team for completion of the project. 

In the year 1951, the well known French architect, named Le Corbusier, took the charge of giving the city a modern look. He further appointed a team, who worked under his supervision and guidance. The team comprised of three senior architects, Maxwell Fry, his wife Jane B Drew and Corbusier's cousin Pierre Jeanneret. These senior architects were supported by a team of young Indian architects and planners consisting of M. N. Sharma, A. R. Prabhawalkar, U. E. Chowdhary, J. S. Dethe, B. P. Mathur, Aditya Prakash, N. S. Lamba and others. 

The Master Plan was developed by Le Corbusier who also designed the Capitol Complex and established the architectural control and design of the main building of the city. The design of housing of government employees, schools, shopping centres and hospitals was distributed among the three senior architects. While designing the city, factors like pollution, traffic, travel and tourism and other environmental aspects were borne in mind.

Maxwell Fry and Jane B. Drew worked for about three years on the project and then left due to their engagements elsewhere. Pierre Jeanneret who ultimately became the Chief Architect and Town Planning Adviser to Government of Punjab returned to Switzerland in 1965. M. N. Sharma took over from Pierre Jeanneret as the first Indian Chief Architect of the Project. The major buildings designed by these architects are the important landmarks in the city.

The foundation stone of the city was laid in 1952. Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, Independent India's first Prime Minister, laid down the founding principles of the new city when he said, "Let this be a new town, symbolic of freedom of India unfettered by the traditions of the past... an expression of the nation's faith in the future." The city is a product of Nehru's vision.

Picture 1: Chandigarh under construction: This is an aerial photograph of Chandigarh in the 1950s.

Subsequently, at the time of reorganization of the state on 1 November 1966 into Punjab, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh, the city assumed the unique distinction of being the capital city of both, Punjab and Haryana while it itself was declared a Union Territory and under the direct control of the Central Government.

References:
1. www.chandigarh.gov.in
2. www.chandigarh.co.uk
3. www.citybeautiful.in
4. www.chandigarhurbanlab.org