Badnore overturns ex-CHB chief’s decisions on need-based changes

Hanging in balance: Badnore’s order says admn approval not taken before allowing changes; CHB panel to take final call.

punjab Updated: May 27, 2018 13:34 IST
UT administrator VP Singh Badnore (HT File )

In a major decision that will affect around 25,000 allottees, UT administrator VP Singh Badnore has overturned the decisions regarding need-based changes taken by former Chandigarh Housing Board (CHB) chairman Maninder Singh Bains in 2017.

Changes allowed last year
  • Covering 70% area in independent houses: CHB had allowed covering 70% area instead of 60%. Independent CHB houses are in Sectors 40, 41, and from 43 to 47. Earlier, the covered area on the ground floor was 60%, 40% on the first floor and 20% on the second floor. 70% area can be covered on all three floors.The allottees paid Rs 200 per square feet for additional coverage that was done without prior approval subject to a minimum fee of Rs 20,000.
  • Balcony construction: Balconies projecting 914mm (3 feet) along the length of the apartment on the front and rear were allowed when all apartment owners in a building agreed to execute these together.
  • Car porch within boundary wall: A car porch with steel pipe frame and polycarbonate sheeting with 70% transparency was allowed up to and within the boundary wall.
  • Shutter/sliding grilles: Shutters and sliding grilles were allowed to be installed in the verandahs for safety.The board had also allowed use of grilles of standard design in balconies and verandas for all types of its units. For uniformity, allottees even downloaded the standard design from the website on payment.

Bains, whose three-year tenure ended in March this year, had taken several decisions regarding need-based changes last year, bringing huge relief to allottees.

But, Badnore in his order stated that the decisions had been revoked as they were issued without the approval of UT administration, and were not in accordance with the prevalent development regulations, including the Chandigarh Master Plan 2031.

Meanwhile, current CHB chairman AK Sinha said, “We have already constituted a committee to deal with the need-based changes. The committee, formed in April, will present a report, following which we will take a final call on whether to allow the changes. As far as the changes allowed last year, the committee is studying those also.”

The committee so far has found that around 55,000 of the total 62,000 dwelling units have various kinds of violations. These include additional rooms and toilets, conversion of balconies into rooms, covering of the courtyard and even construction of stairs on government land. Over the years, house owners have constructed these structures against the rules, and have now been demanding their regularisation.

In October 2016, UT chief architect Kapil Setia, who is also a member of the CHB governing body, strongly objected to allowing grilles in balconies and verandahs of houses of all categories under CHB. But the board went ahead and allowed the grilles.

In a written objection, Setia stated that this will have wide ramifications by adversely affecting the urban design of group housing units. He also stated that a similar demand could be raised by private group housing societies in southern sectors where the floor area ratio (FAR) had been exhausted.

Nirmal Dutt, chairman of Chandigarh Residents’ Welfare Federation said, “We will hold a meeting in Sector 47 on May 27, and study the implications of the administrator’s orders.”