E-Paper
900 flats either locked or occupied illegally, says Chandigarh Housing Board
This is the second surprise check by the Chandigarh Housing Board authorities following unconfirmed complaints that some of the allottees have sold/transferred their flats in unauthorised manner or illegally
A surprise check of small flats by the Chandigarh Housing Board (CHB) has revealed that around 900 dwellings were either locked or occupied ‘illegally’, according to a senior official of the board.
This is the second surprise check by the CHB authorities following unconfirmed complaints that some of the allottees have sold/transferred their flats in unauthorised manner or illegally.
In the first check, 1,268 flats were found either ‘illegally’ occupied or locked. In the second survey, it was found that out of the 1,268 flats, only 368 were found retained by original allottees.
As many as 636 flats were found locked, 222 flats were illegally occupied by others, while 38 allottees denied information to the survey team.
Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of CHB Yashpal Garg said the board has been conducting a survey of all the small flats after it received inputs that original allottees had given the dwelling units to others. “We will send the report to the UT advisor and action will be initiated accordingly,” he said.
He further said that as per the norms, such flats cannot be sold/sub-let/transferred/handed over to other persons and there were some unconfirmed complaints that some of the allottees have sold/transferred their flats in unauthorised manner or illegally. “We will recommend strict action,” he added.
As per the survey, as many as 222 dwelling units of the total were found retained by ‘others’ of which the highest 98 were found in Dhanas, 48 were retained by others in sector 56 flats, 20 of them in sector 38 west, as many as 12, 13 and 14 of them in sector 49, Ramdarbar and Mauli Jagran respectively, while 15 in Maloya.
The report further stated that out of the 636 units found locked, highest 280 were found locked in Dhanas flats, while 70 were found locked in Maloya flats, 60 and 61 in sectors 56 and 38 west respectively, as many as 41, 46, and 47 were found locked in sector 49, Mauli jagran and Maloya respectively and others.
Out of the 38 who denied information, 12 were from Dhanas flats, while one unit had already been sealed by the board and three belonged to a government department.
At the time of the survey, the occupant of the flat was required to establish his/her identity and be a family member of the allottee. The term family member includes parent, brother, sister, spouse, son, daughter, daughter-in-law and grand children of the allottee.
As per the first survey, 18,138 dwelling units were inspected by the CHB teams.
The previous inspection report of all the small flats found that a total of 895 of them were retained by ‘others’ who were not original allotees, 1,268 dwelling units were found locked by the team when they visited. And also the team also found that in 130 dwelling units, occupants denied to give information to the CHB officials when they asked specified questions.
The report had specified that 15,627 were found original allottees of the total 18,138 that were surveyed.
