Chandigarh Wins JNNURM Award for Best City in Earmarking Land for the Poor | Chandigarh Housing Board to offer ideal flat model | CHB

Under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) scheme, Chandigarh bagged the ‘Best city in earmarking land for the poor’ award for 2008-09. The award, which was presented by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in New Delhi on Wednesday, carries a certificate of appreciation, a trophy and Rs 2 lakh. UT Administrator General SF Rodrigues (retd), Finance Secretary Sanjay Kumar and Chandigarh Housing Board Chairman Dr Mohanjeet Singh received the award. The project, which was initiated in 2006, would have cost Rs 569 crore but it has already touched the Rs 1,200-crore mark including land cost.

Of Rs 1,200 crore, Rs 400 crore is being borne by the Centre under the JNNURM scheme and the remaining Rs 800 crore was to be pumped in by real estate giant Parsvnath, which had bagged a mega project - Prideasia in Chandigarh. But with the business ties between the Administration and the real estate giant becoming sour, the Administration will have a tough time arranging for funds. While the developer has asked the Chandigarh Administration to terminate ties and refund the deposit to the tune of Rs 521 crore, the Administration has turned a cold shoulder towards the developer. The project, which is completely stalled on the orders of Central Vigilance Commission has gone into arbitration proceedings. The first hearing of arbtiration proceedings is on December 18.

The Chandigarh Administration claims to have earmarked around 356 acres of land for the implementation of the Slum Rehabilitation Scheme, under which 25,728 houses will be constructed. Approximately 166 acre land is under acquisition for which the construction work on around 13,000 houses has already been started in Sector 38 (West), Sector 29, Ram Darbar and Dhanas. In a press release issued here today, the Chandigarh Administration disclosed that a housing complex comprising 512 small flats in Sector 38 (W) was inaugurated on August 15, 2009. In order to identify slum dwellers in the city, the Estate Officer had conducted a survey in March 2006 to identify the extent and number of slum dwellers in the city. The slum population of Chandigarh was put at 23,841 families spread over 18 different colonies in the city.

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