Amid controversy over renaming of Manimajra, Chandigarh Administration has notified new names for eight places in the union territory.
Manimajra will be now seen as Sector 13 (Manimajra) on Chandigarh’s map.
Punjab Governor and UT Administrator VP Singh Badnore had last month approved the proposal of renaming of eight areas, which are not covered under the sectoral grid here.
While earlier it was proposed to name Manimajra as Sector 13 only, the Administration decided to retain the old name as well while issuing the notification.
Notably, many residents had expressed apprehensions that rechristening of Manimajra will harm its historical importance. The proposal was also challenged in the local Court.
Manimajra is a small historical town situated in the foothill of the Shivalik range, established 600 years ago. It has old historical temples and forts.
The town has now been renamed as Sector 13 (Manimajra), stated the UT notification.
Chandigarh, which came into existence in 1966 has remained without Sector 13 for more than a half century. It is said that when Swiss-born French architect Le Corbusier was designing Chandigarh, he never included Sector 13 in the layout of the city.
While many believe that number 13 is considered unlucky in France and this superstition led to the omission of Sector 13 from Chandigarh, the official documents stated that Sector 12 and 13 were demarcated initially as a cultural zone in the lower halves of Sector 10 and 11 but later removed to avoid confusion. While number 12 was later assigned to residential area at the edge of Sector 11, the number 13 was left out in absence of an appropriate area for its location.
Meanwhile, other areas which have got new names in Chandigarh include Industrial Area Phase I renamed as Business & Industrial Park I. The new name of Industrial Area Phase II and Industrial Area Phase III is Business & Industrial Park II and Business & Industrial Park III respectively.
Sarangpur Institutional area is renamed as Sector 12 (west), Dhanas including Milk Colony, Rehabilitation colony etc as Sector 14 (west), Maloya and Dadu Majra as Sector 39 (west), Pocket number 8 below Vikas Marg as Sector 56 (west).
The Building Bye-Laws as already notified under Chandigarh Building Rules (Urban) 2017 and the Bye-Laws applicable to rural areas, as the case may be, shall remain applicable to the these areas till further orders, stated the notification.
