Chandigarh, July 5 -- A host of long-pending urban development and governance issues, including the extension of the mayor's tenure, apartmentalisation, and re-densification of the city, came up for detailed deliberations during a high-level meeting between Chandigarh administration officials and the Union ministry of home affairs (MHA) led by Amit Shah. The city's political class has long been seeking the mayor's tenure to be raised from the current one year to around 2.5 years. The rationale behind the proposal was to ensure continuity in governance and execution of long-term projects, which, many claimed, were being hindered by annual leadership changes. The MHA has not taken any immediate decision on this. The Centre clarified that no formal proposal is under consideration at this stage, highlighting the need for due process before any change. Apartmentalisation - or division of independent houses into multiple dwelling units - emerged as a sensitive issue. The Supreme Court has already prohibited apartmentalisation in Chandigarh's heritage sectors (Sectors 1 to 30) to preserve the city's original character as envisioned by French architect Le Corbusier. Following the apex court's order, UT had imposed a ban on registrations for share-wise transfers outside the family and the approval of building plans for properties co-owned by strangers or non-family members. City MP Manish Tewari had called this step as a misinterpretation and misreading of the said judgement, issued a notification with far-reaching consequences on subject matters beyond the scope of the present apex court judgement. Officials privy to the matter said the MHA has assured to review the UT's decision. The issue of re-densification - increasing population density through higher floor area ratio (FAR), additional floors, and mixed land use - saw cautious optimism from the Centre. Chandigarh had proposed an increased in FAR (up to 3.0 in phase 3 and periphery). MHA has suggested that re-densification may be considered, but only after infrastructure capacity assessment (water, sewage, traffic). The meeting also covered a range of interconnected civic concerns lal dora expansion and regularisation of constructions in village areas, ownership rights in rehabilitation colonies, conversion of leasehold to freehold properties, need-based changes in CHB flats. The MHA had earlier sought detailed inputs on many of these issues, signalling an ongoing review of Chandigarh's property framework. The Centre reiterated that final decisions will be taken only after comprehensive evaluation, and not in isolation. A meeting will be scheduled again with MHA on these issues this month....