Affordable housing: CHB seeks 100 acres from UT

CHANDIGARH:The UT Administration has sought permission of the Ministry of Home to provide around 100 acres to the Chandigarh Housing Board (CHB) on subsidised rates so that affordable houses could be made available to city residents under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY).

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, June 13

The UT Administration has sought permission of the Ministry of Home to provide around 100 acres to the Chandigarh Housing Board (CHB) on subsidised rates so that affordable houses could be made available to city residents under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY).

The UT move follows a demand made in this connection by the board.

Sources said the UT Administration had prepared a Cabinet note on a proposal to allow it to transfer the land. It will be sent to the Ministry of Home, which will further send it to the Cabinet for approval.

The Administration has given the details of the scheme in the note while stating that it was contemplating to allot land to the CHB for constructing 10,000 houses.

Under the existing law, the Administration cannot allot the land below the market price, which is very high in the city. The note said to provide houses at cheaper rates, the Administration should be allowed to transfer the land to the CHB at a nominal cost.

The CHB will construct houses for people belonging to economically weaker sections (EWS), lower income group (LIG) and middle income group (MIG) in the city.

The land for affordable housing scheme is situated in Maloya, Dhanas and certain areas in the southern sectors. The CHB has conducted a demand survey for the affordable housing scheme, which received a huge response from the residents.

Under the scheme, the Administration has set a target of providing housing to all, particularly to the urban poor, by 2022. The CHB has been made the nodal agency for the scheme.

Plans to build 10,000 flats

The board has sought land for construction of 10,000 flats under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY)
Under the existing law, the Administration cannot allot the land below the market price, which is very high in the city
For this purpose, the UT Administration has sought permission of the Ministry of Home to provide around 100 acres to the board on subsidised rates