A number of town planners, academicians dealing with urban planning and associated experts from various parts of the country are participating in the two-day seminar which commenced at the UT Guest House today. The seminar is a prelude to a major international conference `Chandigarh - 50 Years of the Idea' to be organised by the Administration in January 1999.

The majority of the experts held the opinion that the future development of Chandigarh has to be planned in coordination with the governments of Punjab, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh. An autonomous board would look into the long-term requirements of the region for a harmonious development, they stressed.

Talking to ENS, E.F.N. Ribeiro, former Chief Planner of Town and Country Planning Organisation of the Union government said it was essential to have a regional plan which would tie down the four participating states to a statutory framework. ``The planning of S.A.S. Nagar and Panchkula is competitive rather than cooperative to the Chandigarh plan. If things continue this way, it will not work well for the region,'' he pointed out.

Professor L.R. Vagale, formerly working with United Nations Centre as Chief Technical Adviser on Town Planning and Housing Projects, highlighted that while Chandigarh was the seat of three governments, there did not seem to be any unified thinking on its development. ``The Central government should form an organisation which thinks for the entire region,'' he emphasised.

Professor B.R. Batra, Dean of the Faculty of Planning and Architecture in Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar, supported an integrated regional plan. ``The City planning should also be looked afresh in terms of the requirements of the economically weaker section,'' he emphasised.

J.K. Gupta, chairman of the Chandigarh chapter of Institution of Town Planners, said redensification of the bigger plots in Chandigarh would considerably solve the problem of housing. ``To begin with, vertical expansion can be allowed for plots measuring two kanals and above,'' he said.

Professor J.S. Ghuman, formerly the Chief Town Planner of Punjab, did not support the idea of a regional board. ``An integrated plan was prepared 30 years ago for the development of the Chandigarh region, but it did not work out. What is required is that the periphery of Chandigarh should not be in Punjab or Haryana but should be managed by the UT Administration,'' he said.