Chandigarh was conceived as a statement of confidence in a newly independent India. After Partition created the need for a new capital for East Punjab, the city was planned first by Albert Mayer and Matthew Nowicki and subsequently redesigned under Le Corbusier, with Pierre Jeanneret, Jane Drew and Maxwell Fry. The foundation stone was laid in 1952 and the city emerged as an ambitious experiment in modern urban planning. Set against the Shivalik foothills, Chandigarh was designed around human scale, functional zoning, a hierarchy of roads and, above all, an unusually generous system of open spaces and greenery. The Chandigarh Administration describes it as one of India’s best urban-planning experiments.

The city’s reputation as the “City Beautiful” rests not merely on its architecture. Nature was embedded in its design. Le Corbusier’s master plan famously likened the Leisure Valley, innumerable open spaces and sector greens to the lungs of the city, while the road network represented its circulatory system. The Edict of Chandigarh specifically envisaged uninterrupted green strips and stipulated that the Leisure Valley and parks should remain parks. The idea was not to place nature around the city as decoration, but to make greenery, open space and infrastructure parts of one urban organism.

Against this background, increasing urban flooding deserves attention. Residents who have experienced Chandigarh over decades have noticed a striking change: intense downpours can rapidly turn roads, intersections and roundabouts into pools, disrupting traffic. Waterlogging was not unknown in the past, but appears to have increased during intense short-duration showers.

There is no single explanation. One factor is a changing rainfall regime associated with climate change. Climate change does not necessarily mean that every location will receive more annual rainfall. More significant for cities can be changes in rainfall distribution: fewer rainy days, longer dry spells interrupted by intense precipitation, and heavier downpours over short periods. The Chandigarh Administration records considerable year-to-year variation in rainfall and an average of about 1,100.7 mm over a 20-year period. For drainage, however, intensity and duration of individual storms often matter more than annual totals. When a large volume of water falls within a few hours, runoff can exceed the capacity of local drains.

But rainfall is only half the story. The other half is what has happened to the ground beneath the rain. The Chandigarh of the early decades had considerably more exposed and permeable land. Strips of soil existed along houses and roads; avenues and green belts were predominantly natural surfaces; and residential plots commonly contained substantial lawns and open-to-sky spaces. Collectively, these surfaces functioned as a vast urban sponge. Rainwater was intercepted by vegetation, infiltrated into the soil or moved slowly towards natural drainage channels. Only the residual runoff had to be carried away by drains.

Over the past three decades, this permeability has progressively declined. Lawns and open areas have been paved with tiles, concrete and other hard materials. Roadside strips have been hardened. In some places, portions of green belts have also been covered by paving. Larger buildings, extensions and raised structures have increased the built footprint. Each individual alteration may appear harmless, but together they can substantially increase the proportion of impervious surface.

The hydrological consequence is straightforward. Water falling on soil and grass has an opportunity to infiltrate. Water falling on concrete and tiles has little choice but to run off. The more impermeable the city becomes, the greater the volume and speed of stormwater reaching roads and drains. When intense rainfall coincides with this increased runoff, low-lying intersections and roundabouts become natural collection points.

Chandigarh’s own Master Plan 2031 recognises the importance of this issue. It notes that the stormwater network receives more than 70 per cent of rainfall falling in the city and identifies roads, roundabouts, green areas, institutional areas and other locations for rainwater harvesting and groundwater recharge. This suggests a different approach: rainfall should not simply be removed; part should be retained, infiltrated and stored.

The wider tri-city landscape adds another layer. Chandigarh’s expansion has occurred alongside the rapid urbanisation of Mohali and Panchkula. Development across this metropolitan region has increased paved surfaces, altered natural drainage pathways and intensified pressure on shared catchments. The solution therefore cannot be confined to individual flooding spots within Chandigarh. Stormwater needs to be considered at the scale of the wider watershed.This does not imply that conventional drainage infrastructure is unnecessary. It remains essential, particularly during extreme events. But bigger drains alone may become an endless and expensive response if the city continues to generate more runoff. A more resilient strategy would combine “grey” infrastructure with “green” infrastructure.

The first step should be a scientific urban water audit. Every sector could be mapped for impervious surfaces, natural drainage pathways, chronic waterlogging points and opportunities for infiltration. Wherever feasible, paved strips could be restored to soil and vegetation. Green belts should remain genuinely permeable. New construction should compensate for lost infiltration capacity. Permeable paving, rain gardens, bioswales, recharge structures and temporary water-retention areas could be introduced at appropriate locations. Large institutional and commercial properties could be encouraged, or where appropriate required, to retain a substantial share of stormwater on site.

There are useful examples elsewhere. Singapore, despite being one of the world’s most densely urbanised countries, has adopted the Active, Beautiful, Clean Waters Programme. Launched in 2006, it integrates drains, canals and reservoirs with surrounding landscapes. Its approach uses plants, soil, wetlands and landscaped waterways to slow, detain and cleanse stormwater while creating attractive public spaces.The lesson is important: nature and engineering need not compete. Natural processes can become part of urban infrastructure.Chandigarh does not need to imitate Singapore. It needs to rediscover something of its own original logic. The objective should be resilience, not a return to an unchanging past or design. Its planners understood that open space, greenery, natural contours and the Leisure Valley were integral to the functioning of the city. Modern climate conditions may require strengthening that system, not progressively paving it over.

The City Beautiful can adapt without losing its character. Indeed, protecting its permeability may now be as important as protecting its architecture. The Leisure Valley must remain more than a beautiful green corridor; its natural geography and ecological functions deserve protection. Chandigarh’s future relationship with rain should be based on a simple principle: do not merely build bigger drains to take water away. Give the city back some of the ground through which water can enter the earth.A city designed to live with nature should not discover, decades later, that it has built nature outof the city.  / DAILY WORLD /

(DAILY WORLD )