Chandigarh, Feb. 11 -- There is no single master plan for the coordinated development of Chandigarh, Mohali and Panchkula, the Centre clarified in Parliament while placing the responsibility of planning on the state governments and local urban bodies concerned.

This comes amid a growing clamour, from urban planners and stakeholders, for an integrated framework for the three cities which have been seeing rapid urban expansion, traffic bottlenecks, and strain on resources, over the past two decades.

Replying to a question by Rajya Sabha MP Satnam Singh Sandhu on Monday, Minister of State for housing and urban affairs Tokhan Sahu told the Parliament that urban and regional planning is primarily the mandate of urban local bodies (ULBs) and ...