Anandgarh: Second planned city of Punjab
How the new city of Anandgarh, a rival to Chandigarh, was almost constructed in the early 2000s.
The ‘New Chandigarh’ project
In 1993, the erstwhile CM, Beant Singh, came up with the idea of a ‘New Chandigarh’ township, in the immediate vicinity of Chandigarh. The New Chandigarh township was to be located to the immediate north of Chandigarh, with Mohali in the east and Zirakpur to the south. The project was based on the lines of projects such as Navi Mumbai, to create satellite towns around Chandigarh, as had previously been done with a number of Indian cities.
This project was opposed on the grounds of conflicting with Le Corbusier’s Chandigarh project, as it would’ve been built in a close vicinity to Sukhna Wildlife Sanctuary. Since Beant Singh was killed, the project had been delayed and left in the hands of the next Congress CM, Harcharan Singh Brar. Due to opposition by villages surrounding Chandigarh, in conjuction with Akali MPs like Parkash Singh Badal, the project was dropped by the Congress CM.
The Anandgarh project
By 2000, the Congress government had been replaced by an Akali Dal government. The idea of a new planned township was reintroduced but on a much grander scale. Parkash Singh Badal, the Akali CM, opposed New Chandigarh as he considered it a mere satellite township and wished to construct a grander project. Following the 300th anniversary of the founding of the Khalsa, the Akalis introduced the idea of the Anandgarh project.
Anandgarh was a city that was meant to be situated in between Anandpur Sahib and Chandigarh, covering 29 villages in the Kharar and Rupnagar tehsils. Following this, there was an eventual plan to construct an area similar to the Central Valley in California, with a belt of urban settlements and cities.
Satellite towns such as Baddi in Himachal Pradesh and Mohali, were seen as investment hubs, working from success from the proximity to Chandigarh. The Anandgarh project sought to increase the size of Greater Chandigarh into a large conurbation that stretched across the foothills of the Shivaliks and link all these areas in a tri-state project.
The plan for Anandgarh
Since Chandigarh was supposed to be a purely administrative capital and Mohali, Panchkula and Dera Bassi were the industrial hubs, Anandgarh was planned as a financial, educational and technological hub. This new city was supposed to home to burgeoning industries like biotechnology, semiconductor chip manufacturing and Sikh research. It was meant to represent the confluence between Sikh tradition, reflected by Anandpur Sahib, and modernity, reflected by Chandigarh.
Since Puadh had been a relatively underfunded area apart from the adjourning areas to Chandigarh, the plan represented a way to fund an area that had no canal irrigation, low agricultural productivity and lack of natural resources. Badal even went on the record to advocate for Anandgarh being in line with Le Corbusier’s master plan of Chandigarh as the ideal Anandgarh project would see it be self-sustainable and free from the constraints of Chandigarh.
Decline and aftermath
The project declined soon after due to opposition by local Puadhi villagers, who saw it similar to the Chandigarh scheme, where they had been previously been deported, and opposition parties such as Congress, Shiromani Akali Dal (Amritsar) and various communist parties. The main point of contention for opposition parties was the weakening of Punjab’s claim on Chandigarh if Anandgarh grew to the same size.
The High Court eventually reached a conclusion on the Anandgarh project, concluding that:
Nature is beautiful. But it demands obedience to its ordinances. When violated, the earth erupts and we have earthquakes. Man cannot continue to 'pick nature's pocket'. He cannot raise multi-storeyed monsters of steel and cement at every place. All places cannot be suitable for a new city.
Eventually, the Akali Dal scrapped the project in favour of general satellite growth in Mohali, Kharar, Zirakpur, Dera Bassi and New Chandigarh. Alongside this, development was prioritised in Anandpur Sahib, where the Virasat-e-Khalsa was constructed under Badal.