Chandigarh Housing Board plans 390 residential plots at IT Park

After scrapping a general housing scheme and a government housing project at the IT Park nearly two and a half years ago, the Chandigarh Housing Board (CHB) has planned to carve out residential plots there for the general public.

According to officials, nearly 390 residential plots — seven and a half marlas to two kanals — will be developed at the IT Park.

After both projects were shelved, Punjab Governor and UT Administrator Gulab Chand Kataria had directed the UT Chief Architect to explore the possibility of developing plots for sale at the IT Park, instead of a group housing scheme.

In September 2023, the UT Administration had scrapped a general housing scheme and a government housing plan at the IT Park after both projects failed to secure the necessary environmental clearance from the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change.

The general housing scheme, which was almost finalised, was to come up on 16.6 acres at an estimated cost of Rs 643 crore, while the government flats were planned on 6.73 acres. The CHB had earmarked 123 acres for the housing projects, a five-star hotel, a hospital and a school at the IT Park.

The ministry had initially raised objections over the projects, emphasising the potential disruption in the path of migratory birds and the environmental impact caused by high-rises, waste generation, noise and air pollution in the vicinity of the Sukhna Wildlife Sanctuary.

The CHB had contended that the project area was situated nearly 1.25 km beyond the eco-sensitive zone of the sanctuary where construction was permissible. In 2017, Chandigarh had declared an area ranging from 2 km to 2.75 km from the sanctuary boundary as an eco-sensitive zone, which was subsequently notified by the ministry.

However, the development of this area had been in limbo, as wildlife clearance from the UT Administrator was granted, but the final approval from the Union Ministry was denied.

On December 1, 2005, the then UT Administrator designated the CHB as the nodal agency for the development of the IT Habitat project. The land measuring 123.79 acres was allotted to the CHB on a freehold basis on August 24, 2006. The CHB selected Parsvnath Developers Ltd (PDL) through competitive bidding as the developer of IT Habitat project on the public private partnership (PPP) model. However, the PDL failed to develop the project for various reasons. Later, the CHB took possession of the land from the PDL on February 8, 2015.