Even as the Chandigarh Administration is awaiting the Centre’s nod to award the Rs 247-crore Tribune flyover project to its lowest bidder, architects, urban planners and the city’s former Chief Architect are pushing back hard against the project.
They have questioned its impact on 700 mature trees, the city’s Master Plan and the very logic of building a flyover in Chandigarh.
The case has once again reached the Punjab and Haryana High Court, with petitioners mounting a multi-pronged challenge against the project on grounds ranging from large-scale tree felling and Master Plan violations to questions of transparency in the evaluation of alternative designs.
THE OVERLOOP ALTERNATIVE
City-based architects and urban planners Pearl Ahluwalia and Aashray Ahuja, Directors of URap (Urban Research and Architecture Practice), have proposed an alternative called “The Overloop” — an elevated rotary over the existing Tribune Chowk that they claim would segregate traffic across two levels. It will enable continuous signal-free movement and increase traffic capacity by nearly 50 per cent, while requiring the felling of only 65 trees against an estimated 700 under the current flyover plan.
“The key to urban mobility is moving people, not cars,” the architects said, adding that the proposed flyover reflects an outdated approach. Both experts said they invested three years developing a comprehensive master plan for Chandigarh’s next 50 years rooted in Le Corbusier’s original planning principles, of which “The Overloop” is a key component. The proposal was presented to the UT Administration in 2019 and was, they claimed, recognised and shortlisted among two competing designs. However, they alleged the subsequent evaluation raised serious questions about process and transparency, having been assessed by the same party that was eventually being awarded the tender.
“Our engagement has been guided not by opposition, but by the need for a more informed and inclusive consideration of alternatives,” they said.
700 TREES FACE AXE
At the heart of the opposition is the proposed felling of nearly 700 mature trees along the Tribune Chowk corridor. Petitioners have filed affidavits before the High Court pointing out that 17 of these mango trees belong to an orchard carrying Heritage Grade 1 status. The architects argue that planting saplings as compensation offers no real substitute.
MASTER PLAN AT THE CORE
Beyond trees, the petitioners argue the flyover violates the Chandigarh Master Plan 2031 — a legally binding document — which does not recommend flyovers within the city and prioritises green cover.
Amicus curiae Tanu Bedi has argued before the court that the 1.6-km structure is inconsistent with the Master Plan’s vision for the city. “More than trees, it is the Master Plan and the fundamental futility of a flyover as a solution to the traffic problem that are the main arguments,” a petitioner said, adding that alleged misrepresentation by the Engineering Department about urban planning permissions makes the project “suspicious.”
WHAT FORMER CHIEF ARCHITECT SAYS
Former Chandigarh Chief Architect Sumit Kaur has consistently opposed the project, calling it a “myopic” and unsustainable solution. A member of the Chandigarh Heritage Conservation Committee, she has argued that the 1.6-km concrete structure is a “30th-century response to 21st-century problems” that will harm the city’s unique urban identity and merely shift congestion from one point to another.
She has instead advocated for sustainable alternatives — strengthening public transport, developing a Mass Rapid Transit System (MRTS) and creating a ring road to divert through-traffic.
UT DEFENCE
The matter has been listed before the High Court for further hearing on May 13, with the petitioners seeking an urgent interim stay on tree felling and the tender process, urging that any contract awarded should be subject to the final verdict. The UT Administration has defended the project, maintaining that the flyover is essential to easing the acute congestion at Tribune Chowk, where over 1.5 lakh vehicles ply daily. It has pointed out that a High Court stay was vacated in April 2024 and that challenges before the Supreme Court were dismissed in September 2024. The Administration has finalised Singla Constructions Limited as the L1 bidder at Rs147.98 crore — 31 per cent below the estimated bid cost of Rs214.66 crore — and is awaiting formal Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) approval before awarding the work.
