GENESIS (Page 5)

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However, there were many Indian engineers and architects who tirelessly Campaigned for the Creation of the lake and Surmounted many a bureaucratic hurdle to make sure that the proposal did not get Scrapped off. The perseverance of PLVarma, the then Chief engineer of the Chandigarh project, and the dedication of A R Prabhawalkar, a Senior architectplanner associated with the Chandigarh project, Were tremendous in this matter.

In fact, PLVarma is attributed with Sowing the seed for the Creation of the lake. The Government of Punjab had previously selected this brilliant engineer to undertake the task of Selecting a permanent Capital City for the now truncated State of Punjab, after the 1947 partition. He passionately monitored the development of the idea of the lake and over saw its execution too. When the need was felt for making a dam to check the flow of the Sukhna Choe, PLVarma realised that a large water body with the majestic backdrop of the Shivalik range could be made into something more than just a large dam. He conveyed his proposal to corbusier who immediately warmed up to the idea. And thus the lake was born. Varma worked tirelessly to ensure the creation of the lake and its environs in accordance with the guidelines envisioned by corbusier.
Le Corbusier was very careful in selecting the materials he used for the finishes, details and the visible elements of the lake. Corbusier strongly instructed for a simple bitumen pathway on the lake with a continuous slope from the parapet towards the open brick Channel towards the downstream side of the dam.
(Continues...)

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