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Most Charming. Novel as much of this is, Mayer has tried to plan for "a city in the Indian idiom." In his shopping centers, he has provided for the open bazaars of the East as well as the closed stores of the West. Of the small, self-contained districts Mayer says: "The neighborhood principle is particularly important in India, where people usually come from villages." Mayer is also advising Indian architects on the kind of buildings to be used in the new city. His idea of the capitol is a cone-shaped building like the Buddhist monuments which Mayer saw in the Indian town of Gaya, where Buddha is said to have received his enlightenment. Highest buildings of the city will be the five-story legislature and the three-story secretariat. Other buildings, to be constructed of local brick and sandstone, will be two stories high. Building the city will require 10,000 workmen and will cost 125 million rupees ($26,262,500).
Already the water engineers have sunk four successful wells in the Chandigarh Valley—in each case the site was pointed out by the traditional Hindu water diviner. After the September monsoons, building will start on government employees' housing. Says the Punjab's Chief Minister Gopi Bhargava: "It will be the world's most charming capital."
Not everyone agrees with Minister Bhargava. Last week the mango growers of the Chandigarh Valley were up in arms. Arguing that the capital will take fertile land, some 170 farmers have been demonstrating against the city for five weeks, with torchlight parades during which they try to stop water-boring operations. The government's reply has been to arrest the demonstrators, take them out of the valley, and release them to walk home.