The UT Estate Office has issued a notice to the Chandigarh Industrial and Tourism Development Corporation Limited (CITCO) for failing to clear rent worth ₹1.73 crore owed against 48 officers’ flats at Hotel Parkview in Sector 24 since 2014.
According to the demand notice, CITCO has been directed to deposit the outstanding dues within one month, failing which legal proceedings will be initiated.
As per an agreement, CITCO has to pay annual/monthly rent for the 48 flats at the hotel, but it failed to keep its end of the bargain for the past decade. Notably, out of the ₹1.73-crore dues, ₹83 lakh has accrued as interest only.
Last year in July, the Estate Office had handed over the flats to the health department after CITCO failed to construct a convention centre/banquet hall there despite having a grant of ₹9.5 crore. The UT administration had also directed CITCO to refund the complete amount with interest.
Lying abandoned, the flats (1201 to 1248) were given to the health department to be used as a hostel for nurses and doctors.
Even after repeated attempts, CITCO managing director Hari Kallikkat did not respond to calls and messages.
{{/usCountry}}Even after repeated attempts, CITCO managing director Hari Kallikkat did not respond to calls and messages.
{{/usCountry}}Originally, the hotel, then known as Yatri Niwas, had three blocks of apartments, including 24 each in two blocks and 48 officers’ apartments in the third block.
As per the demand notice, in 1984, the UT administration gave the charge of 24 apartments (1301 to 1324) of Block A to CITCO for the establishment of Yatri Niwas to provide affordable accommodation to middle-income tourists visiting Chandigarh.
Under the lease, the rent was fixed at ₹1,000 per apartment per annum. In 2000, the administration allotted 24 more apartments (1325 to 1348) of Block B on the same terms and conditions.
Later in 2014, UT handed over the 48 officers’ apartments (1201 to 1248) as well, and a licence fee of ₹1,500 per month was to be charged for each of these apartments.
But while CITCO converted the 48 apartments, leased till 2000, into smaller rooms, the 48 officers’ apartments have been lying unoccupied, resulting in huge financial loss and gradual deterioration of infrastructure.
Even the health department has not begun renovation of the flats to convert them into a hostel for nurses and doctors.
In 2014, the UT administration had directed the corporation to convert the officers’ flats into a convention centre/banquet hall. It provided CITCO ₹5 crore in 2017 and another ₹4.5 crore in 2019 for the project that was envisioned to provide space for exhibitions and meetings.
However, CITCO in April last year informed the administration that the site was not viable for the project and instead proposed to construct the centre at Sector 31.