Curation Team
CHANDIGARH: There has been no new residential project in nearly a decade, and the Chandigarh Housing Board (CHB) is again faltering in launching the long-planned Sector 53 self-financing housing scheme. After conducting a successful demand survey for the scheme earlier this year, the CHB is now back to square one as it is set to refund the applicants of the survey their deposited money.
In the survey for the scheme held in Feb-March this year, nearly 7,500 applicants expressed their interest in 372 flats. In a previous survey (2018-19), the scheme received only 178 applications. Applicants deposited Rs 5,000 to Rs 10,000 under the demand survey, depending on the category of flats. However, after a major hike in the collector rates, CHB increased the prices of the flats by 30-40%, depending on the category of the flat.
According to a CHB official, “The 3-BHK flat, which is currently priced at Rs 1.65 crore, is likely to be priced at Rs 2.29 crore after the proposed collector rates are made effective. Similarly, the 2-BHK prices are set to increase from Rs 1.40 crore to Rs 1.97 crore. For the EWS flat, the price is likely to rise from Rs 55 lakh to Rs 73 lakh.”
CHB, the primary player in housing expansion, has struggled to deliver affordable housing. Most of its effort has been reduced to achieving the administration’s aim to make the city ‘slum free’. Other economically disadvantaged groups and the middle class have been largely ignored. CHB’s last housing scheme for the public was launched in 2016 when it offered 200 flats. But the public response was poor because of affordability issues.
By March 2019, it constructed a total of 67,565 houses. Of these, 33,867 are under the EWS category (mainly allotted under the slum rehabilitation schemes). For the LIG (low-income group), CHB created 9,075 dwelling units, MIG (middle-income group) 11,723, and HIG (high-income group) 5,933. CHB created most of the LIG, MIG, and HIG housing before 2000. After that, it mainly created housing for the rehabilitation colonies falling in the EWS category, which are not open to the public. The Sector 53 housing scheme has been marred with delays for several years now.
Wasting time and money
The Sector 53 housing scheme has once again shown the poor and dilatory decision-making process in the CHB, which has a monopoly in housing creation in the city. “Even after getting a good response in the latest demand survey, the CHB failed to launch the project before the hiked rate came into effect, creating unnecessary delay, which will now jeopardise the very future of the scheme. CHB should have taken a decision on the scheme launch within a month of the demand survey results, but senior officials didn’t act even after two and a half months. Now, the applicant money will be refunded,” said an official who didn’t want to be named.
The housing scheme was to be launched in 2018, but it was dropped after a poor demand survey. It was revived in 2023, but again the administration decided against launching it. CHB, making another flip-flop, decided to revive the scheme in 2024. “In the meantime, due to inflationary issues over the last seven years, the effective cost of the project has increased manifold. This will ultimately be passed on to the economically weaker sections and middle-class buyers,” said the official.
A CHB official said, “There were market and policy constraints that delayed the launch of the project. The project is still on.”
