| Area |
:114sq.km |
| Capital |
:Chandigarh |
| Languages |
:Hindi, Punjabi and English |
| District |
:1 |
| Population |
:9,00,914 |
| Males |
:5,08,224 |
|
Females
|
:3,92,690 |
| Literacy |
:81.76 % |
Chandigarh is the 1st planned modern city of India designed by the French architect
Le Corbusier. Chandigarh and the area surrounding it were constituted
as a union territory on 1st November, 1966. It serves as the joint capital of
both, Punjab and Haryana states. It is bounded on the north and west by Punjab and
east and south by Haryana. Total area of the union territory is 114Sq.Km.
The city was named after the mother goddess of power,
Chandi, whose temple
Chandimandu is a feature of the new city. Le-Corbusier was assisted by his
cousin, Pieree Jeanneret and the English couple E.Mazwell Fry and Jane B. Druel. These 3
ar chitects are responsible for most of the public and residential
building raised in Chandigarh between 1950 and 1965. The beautiful city also known
as 'city of roses', was planned to house the capital to the erstwhile Punjab state. On partition
of Punjab, on linguistic basis, the present union territory was formed which in
addition to the city of Chandigarh included Mani Majra town and some villages of
Kharar Tehsil of Ambala district. Much of the beauty owes to the planning of the
city in sectors with houses which conform to a modern design and its grand
Secretariat and Assembly buildings were build according to Le-Corbusier's plans and a picturesque lake was also created along with the
Shivaliks. The genius of
Nek Chand led to the creation of one of Chandigarh's landmarks the 'Rock
garden',
and a rose garden also came up. It is one of the most attractive cities of
India. It has a large lake i.e. Sukhna lake, with beautiful picnic spots.
Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains and others from the religion wise
break up of population, decendingly in that order.
Geography
and Physical Features
Chandigarh
is situated at the foot of the Shivalik range. There are hardly any forest
in this union territory, except for small tracks of forest by
acquiring some area on lease from Punjab and Haryana states. There is about 2542
hectares of forest area in Kansal (Leased from Punjab) and Nepali (Leased from
Haryana) forest and some area in Raipur Khurd village of Chandigarh union
territory. The forest department is also maintaining a Deer Park in Kansal
forest and a nursery near Hallo Majra village. Forest Department is also
taking adequate steps to promote wild life in Kansal forest and is likely to be
converted into a tourist spot.
The district at present comprises of one Tehsil and equal
number of community
development blocks. It has 5 towns and 25 villages.
Communication
In
Chandigarh, transport and communication facilities are highly good.
Indian Airline Service connects Chandigarh with Delhi, Amritsar, Jammu and
Srinagar. During season Kulu flight from Delhi also haults at Chandigarh. It is
directly connected with Delhi and Amritsar by rail. Regular buses ply from
important cities of Chandigarh.
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