Nationally Chandigarh is a union territory of India that serves as the capital of two states, Haryana and Punjab. The name translates to English as "The Fort of Chandi". The name was coined from an ancient temple called Chandi Mandir, devoted to the Hindu Goddess Chandi, present in the city's vicinity. It is occasionally referred to as The City Beautiful. Chandigarh Capital Region including Mohali, Panchkula and Zirakpur had combined population of 1165111 (1.16 million) as per the 2001 census. The region has been biggest urban area and hub of all activities for north Indian states of Haryana, Punjab, Himachal and Jammu & Kashmir.

After the partition of British India into the two nations of India and Pakistan in 1947, the region of Punjab was also split between India and Pakistan. The Indian state of Punjab required a new capital city to replace Lahore, which became part of Pakistan during the partition. After several plans to make additions to existing cities were found to be infeasible for various reasons, the decision to construct a new and planned city was undertaken.

Of all the new town schemes in independent India, the Chandigarh project quickly assumed prime significance, because of the city's strategic location as well as the personal interest of Jawaharlal Nehru, the first Prime Minister of independent India. Commissioned by Nehru to reflect the new nation's modern, progressive outlook, Nehru famously proclaimed Chandigarh to be "unfettered by the traditions of the past, a symbol of the nation's faith in the future." Several buildings and layouts in Chandigarh were designed by the French (born Swiss) architect and urban planner, Le Corbusier, in the 1950s. Le Corbusier was in fact the second architect of the city, after the initial master plan was prepared by the American architect-planner Albert Mayer who was working with the Poland-born architect Matthew Nowicki. It was only after Nowicki's untimely death in 1950 that Le Corbusier was pulled into the project.

On 1 November,1966, the newly-formed Indian state of Haryana was carved out of the eastern portion of the Punjab, in order to create Haryana as a majority Hindi speaking state, while the western portion of Punjab retained a mostly Punjabi language-speaking majority and remained as the current day Punjab. However, the city of Chandigarh was on the border, and was thus created into a union territory to serve as capital of both these states. The was the Capital of Punjab alone from 1952 to 1966.Chandigarh was due to be transferred to Punjab in 1986, in accordance with an agreement signed in August 1985 by Rajiv Gandhi, the then Prime Minister of India, with Sant Harchand Singh Longowal of the Akali Dal. This was to be accompanied by the creation of a new capital for Haryana, but the transfer had been delayed. There is currently a discussion about which villages in southern districts of Punjab should be transferred to Haryana, and about which Punjabi speaking villages should be transferred to Punjab.

Geography and Climate

Chandigarh is located near the foothills of the Shivalik range of the Himalayas in Northwest India. It covers an area of approximately 44 sq mil. or 114 kmІ. and shares its borders with the states of Haryana in the east and Punjab in the north, west and south. The exact cartographic co-ordinates of Chandigarh.

The surrounding districts are of Ambala and Panchkula in Haryana and Mohali, Patiala and Ropar in Punjab. The boundary of the state of Himachal Pradesh is not too far from its north. Chandigarh has a sub-tropical continental monsoon climate characterized by a seasonal rhythm: hot summers, slightly cold winters, unreliable rainfall and great variation in temperature (-1 °C to 41.2 °C). In winter, frost sometimes occurs during December and January. The average annual rainfall is 1110.7 mm. The city also receives occasional winter rains from the west.

Average temperature

• Spring: The climate remains quite pleasant during the spring season (from mid-February to mid-March and then from mid-September to mid-October). Temperatures vary between (max) 16 °C to 25 °C and (min) 9 °C to 18 °C.

• Autumn: In autumn (from Mid-March to April), the temperature may rise to a maximum of 36 °C. Temperatures usually remain between 16° to 27° in autumn. The minimum temperature is around 13 °C.

• Summer: The temperature in summer (from Mid-May to Mid-June) may rise to a maximum of 46.5 °C (rarely). Temperatures generally remain between 35 °C to 40 °C.

• Monsoon: During monsoon (from mid-June to mid-September), Chandigarh receives moderate to heavy rainfall and sometimes heavy to very heavy rainfall (generally during the month of August or September). Usually, the rain bearing monsoon winds blow from south-west/ south-east. Mostly, the city receives heavy rain from south (which is mainly a persistent rain) but it generally receives most of its rain during monsoon either from North-west or North-east. Maximum amount of rain received by the city of Chandigrah during monsoon season is 195.5 mm in a single day.

• Winter: Winters (November to Mid-March) are quite cool and it can sometimes get quite chilly in Chandigarh. Average temperatures in the winter remain at (max) 7 °C to 15 °C and (min) -2 °C to 5 °C. Rain usually comes from the west during winters and it is usually a persistent rain for 2–3 days with sometimes hail-storms.

Flora and fauna

Cassia Fistulia in Chandigarh

Most of Chandigarh is covered by dense Banyan and Eucalyptus plantations. Asoka, Cassia, Mulberry and other trees flourish in the forested ecosystem.The city has forests surrounding it which sustain many animal and plant species. Deers, Sambars, Barking Deers, Parrots, Woodpeckers and Peacocks inhabit the protected forests. Sukhna Lake hosts a variety of ducks and geese, and attracts migratory birds from parts of Siberia and Japan in the winter season.

A parrot sanctuary located in the city is home to a variety of bird species.

Architecture and urban planning

Taking over from Albert Mayer, Le Corbusier produced a plan for Chandigarh that conformed to the modern city planning principles of Congrиs International d'Architecture Moderne CIAM, in terms of division of urban functions, an anthropomorphic plan form, and a hierarchy of road and pedestrian networks. This vision of Chandigarh, contained in the innumerable conceptual maps on the drawing board together with notes and sketches had to be translated into brick and mortar. Le Corbusier retained many of the seminal ideas of Mayer and Nowicki, like the basic framework of the master plan and its components: The Capitol, City Center, besides the University, Industrial area, and linear parkland. Even the neighborhood unit was retained as the basic module of planning. However, the curving outline of Mayer and Nowicki was reorganized into a mesh of rectangles, and the buildings were characterized by an "honesty of materials". Exposed brick and boulder stone masonry in its rough form produced unfinished concrete surfaces, in geometrical structures. This became the architectural form characteristic of Chandigarh, set amidst landscaped gardens and parks.

The Open Hand Monument

The initial plan had two phases: the first for a population of 150,000 and the second taking the total population to 500,000. Le Corbusier divided the city into units called "sectors", each representing a theoretically self-sufficient entity with space for living, working and leisure. The sectors were linked to each other by a road and path network developed along the line of the 7 Vs, or a hierarchy of seven types of circulation patterns. At the highest point in this network was the V1, the highways connecting the city to others, and at the lowest were the V7s, the streets leading to individual houses. Later a V8 was added: cycle and pedestrian paths. The Palace Assembly, designed by Le Corbusier The city plan is laid down in a grid pattern. The whole city has been divided into rectangular patterns, forming identical looking sectors, each sector measures 800 m x 1200 m. The sectors were to act as self-sufficient neighbourhoods, each with its own market, places of worship, schools and colleges - all within 10 minutes walking distance from within the sector. The original two phases of the plan delineated sectors from 1 to 47, with the exception of 13 (Number 13 is considered unlucky). The Assembly, the secretariat and the high court, all located in Sector - 1 are the three monumental buildings designed by Le Corbusier in which he showcased his architectural genius to the maximum. The city was to be surrounded by a 16 kilometer wide greenbelt that was to ensure that no development could take place in the immediate vicinity of the town, thus checking suburbs and urban sprawl; hence is famous for its greenness too.

While leaving the bulk of the city's architecture to other members of his team, Le Corbusier took responsibility for the overall master plan of the city, and the design of some of the major public buildings including the High Court, Assembly, Secretariat, the Museum and Art Gallery, School of Art and the Lake Club. Le Corbusier's most prominent building, the Court House, consists of the High court, which is literally higher than the other, eight lower courts. Most of the other housing was done by Le Corbusier's cousin Pierre Jeanneret, the English husband and wife team of Maxwell Fry and Jane Drew, along with a team of nine Indian architects. The city in its final form, while not resembling his previous city projects like the Ville Contemporaine or the Ville Radieuse, was an important and iconic landmark in the history of town planning. It continues to be an object of interest for architects, planners, historians and social scientists. Chandigarh has two satellite cities: Panchkula and Mohali. Sometimes, the triangle of these three cities is collectively called the Chandigarh Tricity.

Chandigarh UT Administration

Chandigarh Administration is under the control of the Administrator who is appointed under the provisions of Art 239 of the Constitution. The administrative control of Chandigarh is under the Ministry of Home Affairs. The Governor of Punjab is the Administrator of Chandigarh. The Adviser to the Administrator, a very senior officer belonging to one of the All India Services, is second in command after the Administrator. He generally belongs to the AGMU cadre of the Indian Administrative Service.

Chandigarh High Court

• The Deputy Commissioner, an officer belonging to the Indian Administrative Service, is the in-charge of the General Administration in the Chandigarh UT.

• The Deputy Conservator of Forests, an officer belonging to the Indian Forest Service, is responsible for the management of the Forests, Environment, Wild-Life and Pollution Control in the Chandigarh UT.

• The Senior Superintendent of Police, an officer belonging to the Indian Police Service, is responsible for maintaining Law & Order and related issues in the Chandigarh UT.

The above three officers are from AGMU, Haryana or Punjab cadre of the All India Services.

Demographics

As of 2001 India census, Chandigarh had a population of 900,635, making for a density of about 7900 persons per square kilometre. Males constitute 56% of the population and females 44%. The sex ratio is 777 females for every 1,000 males–which is the lowest in the country. Chandigarh has an average literacy rate of 81.9%, higher than the national average of 64.8%; with male literacy of 86.1% and female literacy of 76.5%. About 12% of the population is under 6 years of age. The main religions in Chandigarh are Hinduism (78.6%), Sikhism (16.1%), Islam (3.9%), and Christianity (0.8%) Hindi and Punjabi are the main languages spoken in Chandigarh, although these days English has also gained some popularity. People speaking Tamil form the third biggest linguistic group in Chandigarh. (Census of India 1991). A small number of people also speak Urdu.

A significant percentage of the population of Chandigarh consists of people who had moved here from the neighboring states of Haryana and Punjab to fill up the large number of vacancies in various government departments that were established in Chandigarh.

Economy

The government is a major employer in Chandigarh with three governments having their base here. A significant percentage of Chandigarh’s population therefore consists of people who are either working for one of these governments or have retired from government service. For this reason, Chandigarh is often called a “Pensioner's Paradise”. There are about 15 medium to large industrial including two in the Public sector. In addition Chandigarh has over 2500 units are registered under small scale sector. The important industries are paper manufacturing, basic metals and alloys and machinery. Other industries are relating to food products, sanitary ware, auto parts, machine tools, pharmaceuticals and electrical appliances. Yet, with a Per Capita Income of Rs. 99,262, Chandigarh is the richest city in India. Chandigarh's gross state domestic product for 2004 is estimated at $2.2 billion in current prices.

Chandigarh has a well developed market and banking infrastructure. Nearly all the major banks in the country have registered their presence in Chandigarh. Most banks with a pan India presence have their zonal/regional offices present in Chandigarh. The Bank Square in Sector 17 in Chandigarh has a large presence of such offices all in one section of the commercial sector.

Three major trade promotion organizations have their offices in Chandigarh. These are: Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry, (FICCI) the PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PHDCCI) and the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) which has its regional headquarters at Sector 31, Chandigarh.

The defence forces have a significant presence in Chandigarh, apart from the Indian Airforce base in Sector 31 and the nearby Cantonment in Chandimandir, the city is the base for sourcing supplies for the Leh Laddakh and Siachen region of defence operations.

Education

Chandigarh is known for its quality school education The schools are affiliated to different types of school curricula. The prominent colleges in Chandigarh include GGDSD College, DAV College, MCM DAV College, Government College for Girls and Boys and Government Teacher Training College. There are model schools set up by the government in various sectors, originally aimed to cater the needs of each sector. It is a major study hub for students all over Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, J&K, Punjab, Uttaranchal, and also for students from South-East Asia.

Chandigarh also houses many prominent institutes of higher learning, such as:

• Chandigarh College of Architecture
• Government College of Fine Arts, Sector 10
• IMTECH (Institute for Microbial Technology)
• Indo Swiss Training Centre
• National Institute of Technical Teachers Training and Research (NITTTR)
• Panjab University
• PGIMER (Postgraduate Institute for Medical Education and Research)
• Punjab Engineering College

Also located in neighbouring Mohali is the Chandigarh College of Pharmacy (CCP) and Chandigarh College of Hotel Management and Catering Technology (CCHM).The Indian Institute of Science Education Research (IISER) Mohali has been recently established to carry out research in frontier areas of science and provide quality science education at the undergraduate and postgraduate level. The National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research (NIPER) located in nearby Mohali is the first national level institute in pharmaceutical sciences with a proclaimed objective of becoming a center of excellence for advanced studies and research in pharmaceutical sciences. Chandigarh's satellite town of Mohali is home for Center for Development of Advanced Computing's northmost branch C-DAC Mohali that is engaged in research on state-of-the-art topics including Telemedicine.

Chandigarh IT Park (also Chandigarh Technology Park) is the city's attempt to break into the IT world. Chandigarh's infrastructure, proximity to Delhi, Haryana and Punjab, and the IT talent pool attracts IT businesses looking for office space in the area. Major Indian firms and multinational corporations to the like of Quark, Infosys, Dell have setup base in the city and its suburbs. According to a recent Global Services Survey conducted by Cyber Media, Chandigarh is ranked 9th in the top 50 cities identified globally as ‘emerging outsourcing and IT services destinations.

Transport

Chandigarh has the largest number of vehicles per capital. Wide, well maintained roads and ample parking space all over the city, make it convenient to use private vehicles for local transport.

Public buses run by the Chandigarh Transport Undertaking (CTU), an undertaking of the Chandigarh Administration, provide local transport as well as inter-state transport services.

The Chandigarh Traffic Police oversees the implementation of the traffic rules, and is widely credited for a fairly orderly traffic system. The Traffic Park in Sector 23 introduces children, rickshaw-pullers and new drivers to traffic safety.

Rickshaws are common for traveling short distances, especially by school-going children, housewives and the elderly. Auto-rickshaws are limited, and most often ply to and from the ISBT. Most heavy traffic roads now have rickshaw lanes, which the rickshaw-pullers must adhere to compulsorily. The city also boasts of a well established network of modern radio cabs .

Chandigarh is well connected by road. The two main National Highways (NH) connecting Chandigarh with the rest of the country are: NH 22 (Ambala - Kalka - Shimla - Kinnaur) and NH 21 (Chandigarh - Leh). Chandigarh has two Inter-State Bus Terminus (ISBT), one for the North, East and South located in Sector 17, which has regular bus services to most major cites in Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, and Uttarakhand, as well as the national capital Delhi, which is about 240 km away. And a second in Sector 43 for the Western section, mainly Punjab, some parts of Himachal and Jammu and Kashmir.

Chandigarh has a railway station located about 10 km. away from the ISBT. Regular train connections are available to the national capital New Delhi and to some other junctions like Ambala, Amritsar, Bhiwani, Chennai, Howrah, Kalka, Lucknow, Mumbai, Patna, Sri Ganganagar and Trivandrum.

Chandigarh also has a domestic airport located nearly 12 kilometers from the ISBT. Its name is Chandigarh Airport. Air India, Jet Airways, JetLite and Kingfisher Airlines operate regular flights from Chandigarh to New Delhi and Mumbai. The airport is under process of becoming an international airport and is negotiating with several airlines including Kingfisher and SilkAir for international flights to Bangkok and Singapore, among other South East Asian countries

In the near future, the city will also see a Metro Rail, and an international airport. They are both approved by the governments, and are now at the design step to finalize the project design.Sporting Venues and Gardens

Chandigarh is home to numerous intra country sporting teams in tournaments like PHL and IPL. The city has built upon this achievements a network of sound infrastructure ranging from stadium to training camps. This include the entire gamut from cricket stadiums, swimming pools, shooting ranges to skating rinks and hockey stadiums. Chandigarh also has gardens across the entire city. The most famous being the Rose Garden.

Chandigarh is a city of beauty, fresh air, love, laughter and joy. People love to celebrate every day with the power of Nature .Chandigarh go with the slogan of go green and provide the citizens the eye delight. So let’s take the Natural beauty firstly in our segment.