The city’s planned urban landscape, extensive greenery, cycling infrastructure and civic-management practices left a lasting impression on visiting mayors from across the country who had converged in Chandigarh to attend the two-day 118th All India Mayors’ Conference, which concluded here on Tuesday.
For Guwahati mayor Mrigen Sarania, the city’s cycle tracks were among the first things to make an impression.
He said that the city’s more than 200-km dedicated cycling network was world class and also appreciated the city’s civic practices, particularly segregation and door-to-door collection of waste.
“Chandigarh’s cycle tracks are world class and create a lasting impression. The city has adopted some good practices, particularly in waste management and segregation. Door-to-door garbage collection remains a challenge for us in Guwahati. Our population is comparatively smaller, but it is increasing, and managing waste efficiently is becoming increasingly important,” Sarania said.
He also noted that Guwahati’s system of electing the mayor differs from Chandigarh’s, with the mayor elected indirectly by the councillors for a five-year term.
The city’s greenery, however, emerged as perhaps the most common feature that caught the attention of the visiting mayors. Gangtok mayor Tshering Palden Bhutia said she was particularly taken by the manner in which Chandigarh had devoted substantial spaces to trees and greenery. She also appreciated the address by Punjab governor and UT administrator Gulab Chand Kataria, in which he asked mayors to be always available to citizens and to go on field as much as possible.
For Sonipat’s mayor Rajiv Jain, Chandigarh’s waste-management system was among the most striking aspects of the visit. He expressed particular appreciation for the city’s garbage-collection mechanism and its efforts towards plastic management.
Ujjain mayor Mukesh Tatwal was similarly impressed by Chandigarh’s green cover, describing it as something that other cities could learn from and follow.
“The discussion at the conference on the need for greater uniformity in the tenure of mayors was welcoming. The participating mayors ultimately called for a uniform five-year tenure, along with greater powers and financial autonomy for urban local bodies,” Tatwal said.
Satna (city in Madhya Pradesh) mayor Yogesh Kumar Tamrakar highlighted their visit to Chandigarh’s Integrated Command and Control Centre (ICCC) in Sector 17, describing it as an informative experience.
“I was so very impressed by the quality of the city’s CCTV cameras and the manner in which technology is being used to manage traffic and monitor civic activity. The greenery in the city has left me spellbound,” he said.
Kolhapur (Maharashtra) mayor Ruparani Nikam also admired Chandigarh’s cycling infrastructure and the accuracy and effectiveness of its CCTV network and their planting a sapling at Rose Garden. “I was bowled in the hospitality, warmth and am highly impressed with the cctv cameras at the ICCC, the visit was really good,” she said.
The visiting mayors were also taken around some of Chandigarh’s prominent landmarks and civic institutions. Their itinerary included a visit to the Punjab and Haryana Vidhan Sabha, while the delegates also visited the Sukhna Lake, where they enjoyed boating. A visit to the Zakir Hussain Rose Garden was another highlight, with each visiting mayor planting a sapling as part of the programme.
The visits and interactions gave the civic leaders an opportunity not only to experience Chandigarh’s distinctive urban character but also to see first-hand some of the practices that have shaped its reputation as a planned, green and relatively cycle-friendly city. The conference itself concluded with the adoption of the ‘Chandigarh Sankalp’, calling for empowered mayors, stronger urban local bodies, a uniform five-year tenure for mayors and greater financial and administrative powers for cities.
Around 40 mayors from 19 cities across the country had participated in the conference.
Aneesha Sareen is a Special Correspondent at the Hindustan Times head office in Chandigarh. A reporter with two decades of experience, Aneesha has her eyes and ears firmly on the ground. She has extensively covered crime, courts, administration, politics, the Municipal Corporation and industry across Chandigarh and Punjab. During her stint as HT bureau head in Ludhiana from 2016 to 2023, she led a team of young journalists reporting across the length and breadth of the industrial city and its surrounding areas. She has also worked with the Indian Express and The Tribune in the past. Currently, she covers politics and Administration in Chandigarh. When not chasing stories, Aneesha enjoys travelling and exploring new cuisines.Read More