One such road is the Old Ropar road that has witnessed ages of travel. “It was an integral part of the region till 1953 and was the connecting road between Ropar and Kalka before we lost it in the name of development of the city,” recalls M N Sharma, former chief architect of Punjab and Chandigarh.

The road passed through the old Bijwara market, Sector 35-A, Sector 22-C, Sector 27 before joining the Kalka Road.

“The Old Ropar road was meant to be preserved as part of our heritage but was quietly taken over by modern structures,” Sharma tells us.

Dr S S Bhatti, one of the oldest architects of the city, agrees with Sharma.

“It was a landmark that was retained in the original plan of the city. By the early 1990s, however, even the remote traces of the Old Ropar road could not be spotted. The old plans, it seems, were replaced by the new ones without any consideration,” says Dr Bhatti.

With parts of the road intact till about 1980, former principal of the Chandigarh College of Architecture Prof Rajneesh Watts recalls the morning walks he used to go for on the stretch that now forms part of the park opposite the Press Club in Sector 27.