Corbusier’s heritage neglected
Mohit Khanna
Tribune News Service
Ludhiana, September 17
Manhole covers akin to those in Chandigarh have been found at several places in the city. These have the map of Chandigarh on them, but the Municipal Corporation here has no idea that these have heritage value.
Designed by Pierre Jeanneret, Le Corbusier’s associate the model of manhole cover has been preserved at the Government Art and Museum Gallery, Sector 10, Chandigarh.
Nobody knows how these covers reached Ludhiana; when these were put up.
“If the manhole covers, designed by Pierre Jeanneret, are original, price of one cover would be close to Rs 5 lakh. These are very important artefacts and I would request the Municipal Corporation ,Ludhiana to restore them,” said nodal officer of Le Corbusier Museum and Art Gallery, Chandigarh, VN Singh.
“These manhole lids are vanishing from Chandigarh; many of these have been stolen and replaced with concrete slabs . It would be exciting if these lids are the ones which were stolen,” he added. The municipal authorities here expressed ignorance about manhole covers here. “We purchased gutter covers from two Chandigarh-based companies.
I do not know whether these covers has map of Chandigarh as we purchased them through bulk orders,” said XEN AK Gupta.“It has been years since these manhole covers have been here. These are in dilapidated condition . If these covers are original, these should be preserved,” said Maj Gurdial Singh.
