PHYSICAL FEATURES OF CHD

LOCATION AND SIZE.

Latitude  &  Longitude:  Chandigarh  is  at  an  altitude  of  304-365  meters  above  MSL  (Mean  Sea Level)  with  1%  drainage  gradient  and  lies  between  30°44’14  North  Latitude  and  76°47’14 East  Longitudes.  The  highest  elevation  of  this  area  is  about  501  meters  above  mean  sea level.

Surrounding  area  of  the  District:
Territory  now  named  as  ‘Chandigarh  -  The  City  Beautiful’ was  part  of  Ambala  District.  It  is  one  of  the  best  way  planned  urban  area  with  availability  of amenities  and  modern  architecture.  Chandigarh  as  a  Union  Territory  emerged  to  the  result of  reorganization  of  erstwhile  Punjab  State  with  effect  from  1st  November  1966  under  the Reorganization  Act,  1966.  It  is  surrounded  by  Punjab  from  three  sides  (North,  South  and West)  and  by  fourth  side  from  Haryana  in  the  East.


Area  of  the  District:
 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.  No  changes  have  occurred  in  external  boundaries  of  the  district  over  the  years. It  has  an  area  of  114  sq.  kms.  Urban  and  rural  area  of  the  district  has  covered  an  area  of 109.53  sq.  km.  and  4.47  sq.  km.  respectively.

North-south/East-west  extension:  Chandigarh  is  located  in  the  foothills  of  Shivalik  hill ranges  in  the  North,  which  form  a  part  of  the  fragile  Himalaya  ecosystem.  It  is  occupied  by Kandi  (Bhabhar)  in  the  north  east  and  Sirowal  (Tarai)  and  alluvial  plains  in  the  remaining part.    From  city  point  of  view  Chandigarh  which  houses,  the  Capital  of  Punjab  and  Haryana States  besides  being  the  seat  of  Chandigarh  Union  Territory  Administration.  It  is  linked  with all  prominent  cities  and  towns  of  Punjab  and  Haryana  States.  Though  natural  boundaries exist  around  the  city,  urban  growth  has  been  noticed  in  East  in  Panchkula  and  in  Mohali  in the  South  side.  Northern  side  linked  to  Baddi,  has  proved  to  be  the  potential  hub  for education  and  industry  which  attracted  students  and  workers  in  the  past.  Development potential  of  the  southern  portion  of  the  Mullanpur  which  is  close  to  the  film  city  and education  city  of  Chandigarh  attracts  temporary  residents  of  Chandigarh  for  settlement  at later  stage.  Developing  sites  on  Panchkula  -  Zirakpur  provides  major  scene  of  growth  around the  city.  NH-21  linkage  from  Mohali  to  Ambala  has  touched  the  thousand  lives  of surrounding  areas.

Physiography :
Chandigarh  is  a  single  District  Union  Territory,  which  was  created  on  1st  November 1966  as  a  result  of  trifurcation  of  erstwhile  Punjab  State  into  Punjab,  Haryana  and  Himachal Pradesh.  The  present  location  of  Chandigarh  was  a  part  of  the  erstwhile  Kharar  tahsil  then  in Ambala  district  as  per  the  1892-93  Gazette  of  the  district  Ambala.  Since  both  Haryana  and Punjab  put  their  claim  on  Chandigarh  City,  so  it  was  decided  to  keep  it  as  a  joint  capital  of both  the  States  under  Central  Government  Administration  as  a  separate  Union  Territory  till the  Central  Government  could  decide  about  its  transfer.  It  has  an  area  of  114  sq.  km. inhabited  by  1,055,450  persons  in  2011  Census  conveying  a  density  of  9,258  persons  per  sq. Km.

Regional  Divisions  of  Chandigarh: Geologically,  the  region  is  made  up  of  Alluvium  (Recent)  except  some  north-eastern parts  where  Shivalik  (Mio-Pleistocene)  structure  is  found.  Chandigarh  has  monsoonal  and continental  type  of  climate.  It  has  a  climate  with  bracing  winter,  a  pleasant  rainy  season  and a  reasonably  hot  summer.  Chandigarh  alluvial  plain  is  known  for  wheat,  maize  and sugarcane  crops  and  was  dotted  with  groves  of  mango  trees.  There  were  giant  Pipal  trees (Ficus  religiara)  near  village  sites.  In  1952,  a  tree  preservation  order  was  passed,  prohibiting the  cutting  down  and  destruction  of  trees.  On  account  of  this  order,  a  large  number  of venerable  mango  trees,  clumps  of  date  palms  and  groves  of  the  flame  of  the  forest  (Butea Monosperma)  have  been  retained  in  the  green  belts,  thus  preserving  an  illusion  of  great age.  Chandigarh  Administration  has  acquired  some  area  on  lease  from  Punjab  and  Haryana to  create  small  tracks  of  forests.  There  are  two  reserve  forests,  Kansal  and  Nepli.  The  Forest Department  is  doing  extensive  work  for  soil  conservation  in  Sukhna  Lake  catchment  area  in order  to  check  silting  of  the  lake  and  for  raising  a  green  belt  around  the  city.  Eucalyptus, Khair,  Kikar,  Shisham,  Phulahi  and  Bamboo  are  the  important  species  found  here.   In  July  1953,  a  Landscape  Committee  was  organised  under  the  Chairmanship  of  Sh. M.S.  Randhawa.  This  Committee  provided  coordination  between  the  engineers,  architects, horticulturists  and  forest  officers.  Le  Corbusier  who  was  one  of  the  members  of  the Committee  suggested  the  preparation  of  a  chart  showing  shapes  of  trees  and  colour  of flowers.  This  simple  chart  presented  a  classification  of  selected,  beautiful,  ornamental flowering  and  foliage  trees  of  India  which  may  be  called  the  aristocrats  of  the  plants kingdom  and  provided  the  basis  of  all  tree  planting  in  Chandigarh.  As  shade  was  quickly required  on  the  roads,  it  was  suggested  that  fast  growing  trees  like  Melia  Azedarach  and Sesbanea  Grandiflora  be  planted.  Shelter  belts  of  Dalbergia  Sisso  were  planted  along  the beds  of  seasonal  rivulets  so  that  dust  may  not  blow  into  the  city  during  dry  and  hot  months of  May  and  June.  Hybrid  Eucalyptus  has  been  planted  to  the  north  and  on  the  banks  of  the lake.  A  striking  feature  of  the  landscaping  schemes  of  Chandigarh  is  the  profuse  use  made  of flowering  trees,  which  flower,  from  month  to  month.  In  addition  to  aesthetic  aspects,  trees in  the  city  areas  constitute  an  effective  buffer  against  dust  and  noise  and  also  act  as windbreaker.  Some  of  the  parks  in  Chandigarh  have  been  planted  exclusively  with  forests  of the  Eucalyptus,  Kadamba  and  the  Yellow  Siris  (Albizzea  Procera).  These  are  all  giant  trees, which  are  gregarious,  and  when  grown  in  large  numbers  create  a  beautiful  effect.  To  the north  of  the  city,  the  Shivalik  presents  a  problem  of  soil  conservation  during  monsoon.  To save  them  from  dissolving,  these  were  planted  with  trees  and  shrubs  of  different  types.  The Union  Territory  of  Chandigarh  falls  in  region  number  2.1.2  Hoshiarpur-Chandigarh  SubMountain  Plain  and  has  been  divided  into  following  two  sub-micro  regions  keeping  in  view physiogeographic  factors:

Chandigarh  Shivalik:
 Chandigarh  Shivalik  forms  the  north-eastern  part  of  the  District, covering  part  of  rural  as  well  urban  units  of  the  city,  viz.    Kaimbwala1,  Khuda  Alisher2  and Lahora3.  It  has  an  area  of  5.07  sq.km.  which  is  inhabited  by  18,977  persons.  It  is  bounded  by Punjab  in  the  north  and  north-east,  by  Haryana  in  the  east,  by  Chandigarh  plain  in  the  south and  west.  The  region  has  Ochrepts-Orthents  types  of  soil.  Ochrepts  are  shallow  black,  brown and  alluvial  soils  of  northern  region  whereas  Orthents  are  recently  formed  soils.  Its  northern fringes  have  Siwalik-Mio-Pleistocene  geological  structure  while  southern  parts  have geological  structure  of  Alluvium-Recent.  On  its  south-eastern  border,  Sukhna  Lake  is existing.  In  order  to  check  silting  of  the  lake,  Forest  Department  of  the  Union  Territory  is doing  extensive  work  for  soil  conservation  in  the  catchments  area  which  mostly  falls  in  this region.  Eucalyptus,  Khair,  Kikar,  Shisham,  Phulahi  and  Bamboo  are  the  important  species found  here.  Kaimbwala  is  an  important  village  dominantly  inhabited  by  Gujjar  community whose  main  occupation  is  rearing  of  cattle  and  selling  of  milk.  The  traditional  marketing centre  of  the  inhabitants  of  Kaimbwala  is  Manimajra,  which  can  be  reached  by  a  pucca  road. Mandis  and  regular  markets  exist  in  Khuda  Alisher  and  Lahora,  still  Chandigarh  city  is  the main  marketing  centre  for  the  inhabitants  of  Khuda  Alisher  and  Lohara  villages,  which  are connected  by  road.  The  density  of  population  in  the  region  is  3,743  persons  per  sq.km. whereas  in  Chandigarh  Plain  it  is  9,515  persons  per  sq.km.  which  is  more  than  twice  from what  is  the  density  variation  in  Chandigarh  Shivalik.  Growth  of  population  in  this  region  has been  recorded  as  73.02  per  cent  during  2001-2011  which  is  higher  than  plain  area.  Though there  is  no  urban  centre  in  the  region  yet  relatively  high  growth  of  population  is  mainly associated  with  its  close  proximity  to  the  city  of  Chandigarh  where  comparatively  high  rents forced  the  people  to  find  cheaper  accommodation  in  this  region.  It  has  4,200  persons belonging  to  Scheduled  Castes  out  of  a  total  of  18,977  in  these  units  of  the  District.  Total literates  in  rural  and  urban  area  of  District  are  805,438  of  which  13,687  reside  in  this  region. Literacy  rate  is  84.1  per  cent  in  this  region.  Sex  ratio  is  as  low  as  763  indicating  high  male immigration.

  Chandigarh  Plain:
 Chandigarh  plain  is  a  fertile  alluvial  plain,  consisting  of  4  villages  and  4 Census  Towns,  and  1  Statutory  Town  including  1  outgrowth.  It  is  bounded  by  Punjab  and Chandigarh  Shivalik  in  the  north,  by  Haryana  in  the  east,  by  Punjab  again  in  the  south  and west.  With  an  area  of  108.93  sq.km,  it  is  inhabited  by  1,036,473  persons,  of  which  22,941 reside  in  rural  areas  and  1,013,532  in  urban  areas.  In  plain  four  villages  are  Sarangpur, Dhanas,  Raipur  Khurd,  and  Raipur  Kalan  &  Makhan  Majra.  Five  urban  centres  are Chandigarh  (M  Corp.  +  OG);  Manimajra  (R),  Basti  Kishangarh,  and  Basti  Bhagwanpura  (CT); Daria  (CT),  Mauli  Jagran  (CT),  and  Behlana  (CT).  Chandigarh  City  is  the  biggest  urban  centre with  a  population  of  1,013,532  persons  including  the  Census  Towns  and  Outgrowth  of Khuda  Jassu.  The  region  (Chandigarh  Plain)  contains  95.6  per  cent  of  the  total  area  of  the Union  Territory  of  Chandigarh  where  98.2  per  cent  of  the  total  population  resides.  In  plain the  most  densely  populated  town  of  the  district  is  Daria  accommodating  14,470  persons  in an  area  of  0.54  sq.  kms.  The  north-west  and  south-east  peripheries  of  Chandigarh  City  are bounded  by  dry  beds  of  Sukhna  Choe  and Patiali  Rao.  These  are  seasonal  bounded  rivers - and  the  quantity  of  water  is  dependent  on  the  rainfall  in  their  catchment  areas.  Sukhna  Lake is  located  on  its  northern  parts.  The  Shivalik,  on  its  north-east,  dry  beds  of  seasonal  rivers  on southeast  and  northwest  periphery,  make  natural  barrier  for  the  expansion  of  the  city  in these  directions.  Southwest  is  the  only  side  towards  which  the  city  may  naturally  expand and  is  expanding  to  meet  the  growing  demand  of  its  population.  The  city  is  the  joint  capital of  Punjab  State  and  Haryana  State,  besides  the  head-quarters  of  the  Union  Territory  of Chandigarh.  The  city  is  known  for  its  academic  and  educational  facilities.  It  is  one  of  the most  modern cities  of  the  world.   The  present  urban  form  of  Chandigarh  derives  from  the  well-ordered  matrix  of  the generic  ‘Neighbourhood  unit’  -  the  Sector  -  and  the  hierarchical  circulation  pattern originating  from  the  Le  Corbusier’s  theory  of  7  Vs  with  a  regular  intersection  of  the  fast traffic  V-3  roads  defining  each  ‘Sector’.  The  region  is  well  developed  in  terms  of  the  means of  communications  and  transportations.  National  Highway  21  and  broad  gauge  railway  line pass  through  this  region.  Chandigarh  City  is  well  connected  with  roads.  Chandigarh  has  a ‘GRID’  plan,  as  most  planned  cities,  inevitably  tend  to  have.  It  is  a  rectangular  grid  800 metres  x  1200  metres  (½  mile  x  ¾  mile).  The  space  contained  within  the  grid  is  called  a ‘Sector’  which  is  the  basic  planning  unit  of  the  city.  The  dimension  of  the  grid  is  based  on  the assumption  that  each  sector  should  be  self-sufficient  for  the  essential  daily  needs  of  living and  each  requirement  should  be  met  within  walking  distance  inside  sector.  Each  sector  is surrounded  by  vehicular  roads  called  V-3s  (the  Grid)  from  which  access  to  the  sector  is available  at  four  controlled  points  situated  approximately  at  the  bisector  of  each surrounding  length  or  road.  The  green  space  is  meant  to  feed  the  recreational,  educational, social  and  spiritual  needs  of  the  sector.  Thus  schools,  health  centres,  community  centres, playing  fields  are  located  in  this  space,  and  places  of  worship  are  also  located  nearby.  A residential  sector  seeks  to  provide  all  the  educational  needs  of  its  resident’s  up  to  the  junior secondary  stage  but  in  practice  this  cannot  be  adhered  to  as  some  children  prefer  schools located  in  other  sectors  than  their  own.  Besides  some  sectors  have  schools  exclusively  for girls  and  some  for  boys.  As  already  mentioned  the  planning  unit  of  the  city  is  a  sector  but there  are  some  variations  which  comprise  the  special  areas  and  which  do  not  follow  the planning  concept  of  a  typical  residential  sector.

 There  are  following  four  main  work  centers in  the  Chandigarh  City:

1.The  capitol  complex  which  was  the  seat  of  the  erstwhile  Punjab  Government  up to  the  reorganization  of  Punjab  State  in  November  1966,  is  being  used  by  the Governments  of  Punjab  and  Haryana.  It  consists  of  the  Legislative    Assembly,  the Secretariat  and  the  High  Court.  These  can  also  be  called,  law  making,  law executing  and  law  interpreting  premises.

2.The  City  and  District  centres  in  Sector  17  are  in  the  heart  of  the  city.  The  central plaza  was  designed  by  Le  Carbusir  as  “Pedestrian  Paradise”.  Some  of  the administrative  offices  of  Chandigarh  Union  Territory  and  the  State  Governments are  located  here.  The  city  centre  is    essentially  the  civic  centre  and  the commercial  centre  of  the  city.

(iii) Chandigarh  was  not  conceived  as  an  industrial  city.  It  was  meant  to  be  an administrative  centre    and  an  educational  centre.  But  an  area  on  the  southeast periphery  is  set  aside  as  an  industrial  area.  Only  such  industries  as  powered  by electricity  are  permitted  in  the  industrial  area  so  that  atmosphere  is  saved  from pollution.  The  idea  was  that  any  city  now  requires  a  service  industry  to  keep  the city  going,  for  example,  motor  vehicle  repairs,  manufacturing  of  furniture,  doors, windows,  hardware,  kitchenware,  electric  goods,  trangistors,  gas  ,cookers,  soft drinks,  miscellaneous  goods  of  daily  use,  etc.

(iv) The  zone  of  under-graduate,  post-graduate  studies  and  spiritual  and  temporal health  of  the    whole  city  is  located  in  the  north-west.

V-1  :Fast  roads  connecting  Chandigarh  to  other  towns  and  cities;
V-2  :Multipurpose  Arterial  road  with  fast  and  slow  carriage  ways,  cycle  and pedestrian  tracks  (these  are  Jan  Marg,  Madhya  Marg,  Himalaya  Marg,  Uttar Marg,  and  Dakshin  Marg);
V-3  :  Fast  straight  traffic  road  on  the  periphery  of  a  sector;
 V-4  :Shopping  street  with  shops  on  southwest  side  only  and  open  areas  for  car parking.  These  are  winding  streets  intended  to  slow  down  traffic;
 V-5  :Distributory  road  within  a  sector  leading  to  groups  of  housing  (these  roads ensures  traffic  distribution  within  a  sector);
 V-6  :  Feeder  road  to  individual  houses; V-7  :  Pedestrian  path  and
 V-8  :  Cycle  track.

Chandigarh  City  of  this  region  has  developed  a  unique  and  rich  character  closely related  with  the  composition  of  its  society.  No  longer  merely  bureaucratic,  the  city  has  a generous  sprinkling  of  social,  political,  economic  and  intellectual  elites  who  dictate  the pattern  of  its  life.  Its  sizeable  student  community  foreigners  (particularly-Thais,  Negroes, Iranis)  and  Indians  suffuse  it  with  colour,  vitality  and  elegance.  Chandigarh  is  fast  becoming a  cosmopolitan  city  and  reflects  the  moods,  life-styles  and  culture  of  its  variegated population.  The  region  is  culturally  rich  and  has  congenial  climate  for  its  expansion.   The  Chandigarh  district  has  developed  during  the  decade  in  housing,  infrastructure, and  education.  Besides  development  and  improvement  in  infrastructure  facilities  for  the public  services  to  the  residents,  city  has  been  decorated  with  a  hub  of  Information Technology.  A  project  Rajiv  Gandhi  Chandigarh  Technology  Park  came  up  in  2005.


Climate.
Chandigarh  falls  under  Koeppen'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.   January  and  June  are  the  months  during  which  the  lowest  and highest  temperatures  have  been  recorded  respectively.  With  the  onset  of  monsoon  in  July the  temperature  starts  declining.  A  major  part  of  the  annual  rainfall  is  received  during  June to  October.  The  other  period  of  rainfall  is  in  winter  months  from  October  to  March.  But  the rainfall  is  scanty.  The  summer  rainfall  is  caused  by  the  southwest  monsoon,  which  is beneficial  for  kharif  crops.  The  winter  rainfall  caused  by  cyclones  is  also  significant  for  rabi crops.   The  area  experiences  four  seasons:  (i)  Summer  or  hot  season  (mid-March  to  MidJune)  (ii)  Rainy  season  (late-June  to  mid-September);  (iii)  Post  monsoon  autumn/transition season  (mid  September  to  mid-November);  (iv)  Winter  (mid  November  to  mid-March).  The dry  spell  of  summer  is  long  but  with  the  occasional  drizzles  or  thunder  storms.  May  and  June are  the  hottest  months  of  the  year  with  the  mean  daily  maximum  &  minimum  temperatures being  about  37  °C  &  25°C respectively.  Maximum  temperatures  can  rise  up  to  44°C.   Southwest  monsoons  with  high  intensity  showers  commence  in  late  June.  The weather  at  this  time  is  hot  and  humid.  The  variation  in  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.  January  is  the  coldest  month  with  mean  maximum  and  minimum  temperatures  being around  23  and  36°C  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.


Soil.
The  region  had  ochrepts  –  orthents  types  of  soil.  While  the  ochrepts  are  shallow black  brown  and  alluvial  soils  of  the  northern  region,  orthents  are  the  recently  formed  soils. The  northern  fringes  of  the  Union  Territory  have  Siwalik  (Mio-Pleistocene)  geological structure.  While  southern  parts  have  geological  structure  of  alluvium.  On  its  north-eastern side  lies  the  Sukhna  Lake.  In  order  to  check  silting  of  the  lake  the  Forest  Department  of  the Union  Territory  is  doing  extensive  work  on  soil  conservation  in  the  catchment  area.  Soils  are good  for  growing  wheat,  maize  and  sugarcane  crops.




Cropping  pattern:
Chandigarh  is  mostly  urbanised  having  109.53  sq.Km.  urban  area  while  the  rural  area is  only  4.47  sq.Km.,  Fodder  and  Wheat  are  the  main  crops  grown  here.  The  land  use  pattern has  been  classified  under  the  sub  heads  as  forest,  irrigated,  unirrigated,  culturable  waste and  area  not  available  for  cultivation  in  the  table  ahead.


Forests: Forests  are  those  lands,  which  are  administered,  as  forests  under  legal  enactment and  which  are  State  or  private  owned.  These  do  not  include  any  land,  which  is  being  put  to some  agricultural  use.  There  is  hardly  any  forest  in  the  Union  Territory  of  Chandigarh,  but Chandigarh  Administration  has  been  able  to  have  small  tracks  of  forests  by  acquiring  some area  on  lease  from  Punjab  and  Haryana  States.  There  is  about  3,245  hectares  of  forest  area in  Kansal  (leased  from  Punjab)  and  Nepli  (leased  from  Haryana)  forest  and  some  area  in Kaimbwala  village  of  Chandigarh  Union  Territory.  The  forest  area  is  mostly  around  Sukhna Lake,  rivulets  –  Sukhna  choe  and  Patiali-Ki-Rao.

Irrigated  lands:
 Irrigated  lands  are  those  lands,  which  are  sown  with  crops  and  orchards  and  are irrigated.  The  common  source  of  irrigation  is  tube  well.  The  water  level  in  the  northern  and north-eastern  villages  is  generally  very  low,  but  position  in  other  villages  is  comparatively better.  According  to  2011  village  directory,  the  irrigated  area  is  212.89  hectares.


Unirrigated  lands:
Unirrigated  lands  are  those,  which  are  sown  with  crops  and  orchards  including  the current  fallows,  but  which  are  not  irrigated  by  any  means.  Unirrigated  area  is  61.20  hectares as  per  the  village  directory.

Culturable  waste:
This  includes  land  fit  for  cultivation,  whether  or  not  taken  up  for  cultivation  but  is not  cultivated  for  more  than  5  years  in  succession.  The  area  under  culturable  waste  comes to  273.79  hectares  as  per  the  village  directory.

Area  not  available  for  cultivation:
This  includes  land  not  available  for  cultivation  such  as  barren,  unculturable  land  and land  put  to  non-agricultural  uses  such  as  buildings,  roads,  railways,  water  works  etc.  This Union  Territory  being  mainly  urban,  a  greater  part  of  the  land  has  been  utilized  for construction  of  houses,  roads,  railway  station  and  railway  tracks,  workshops,  factories, godowns,  parks  etc.,  which  are  common  pattern  of  urban  areas.  Land  available  for cultivation  is  mostly  located  in  the  villages,  which  is  shrinking  due  to  greater  demand  for some  more profitable  non-agricultural  uses.


Flora  and  Fauna: Ki  Kar  (Accasia  arabica),  Barota,  Pipal  (Ficus  religiosa),  Shisham  (Dalbergia  Sissoo)  and Neem  are  the  common  trees  found  in  this  Union  Territory.  Mango  (Mangifera  indica)  trees are  found  in  the  rural  as  well  as  in  the  urban  areas.  Jackal,  hare,  wild  bear,  wild  cats  are  a common  sight  in  the  villages  of  northern  side  of  this  Union  Territory,  which  is  close  to Shivalik  hills.  Parrots,  multicoloured  sparrows,  pigeons,  crows,  doves,  gatar,  nightingale  and kite  are  common  birds  found  here.