After the gap of over three years, the Chandigarh Housing Board (CHB) in December issued allotment-cum-possession letters to the allottees of its Sector 51 housing scheme, the costliest in the city till date, but the work on the site is still not complete.
A visit to the site revealed that workers were still busy in installation of paver blocks in common areas and whitewashing of flats and boundary walls. Even the lifts were not functioning.
Moreover, the allottees complained that the housing board had used sub-standard material during construction.
Sources revealed that after extending the deadline by six months, the board was to finish the project by December 31. However, work on installation of fire fighting equipment is still going on, street lights in common areas are yet to be erected, while lifts are non-functional due to no power connection, sources added.
Till date, of the 200 flats, allottees were handed over the possession of 57 flats.
Meanwhile, despite repeated calls and messages to CHB chief engineer Rajiv Singla, no response was received from his side.
The CHB had launched the 200-flat self-financing housing scheme in Sector 51 in April 2016, but officials maintained that the work was delayed due to encroachment on the land and high-tension wires on the project site. There were 200 two BHK flats under the scheme.
Earlier, after witnessing delay in possession, the allottees had even demanded monthly interest on the money deposited by them for these flats. The allottees paid more than Rs 70 lakh for the flats within 90 days from the date of issuance of an acceptance-cum-demand letter as per the terms and conditions.
The board was to hand over these flats to allottees by June/July 2019, but the construction got delayed. Finally, allotment-cum-possession letters were issued in December last year.
Even when the scheme was launched, the high price and the condition of making full payment within a period of 90 days, were responsible for the scheme not attracting a high number of applicants. For these 200 flats, the board had only received around 225 applications.
For these flats, the board had fixed a tentative price of Rs 69 lakh for each flat, excluding other charges, making it the most expensive scheme.
Land measuring 4.48 acres in Sector 51 was earmarked for the project, but around 1 acre was in possession of three saw mills since 1988. The mill owners were in litigation against the UT administration seeking rehabilitation.
The litigation delayed the project for more than two years and caused hardship to the allottees who gave full payment in advance to the Board. Later, shifting of high-tension wires also delayed the project.
