Repair cost of old govt houses in Chandigarh to go up: NITTTR report

A preliminary report submitted by the National Institute of Technical Teachers Training and Research (NITTTR) has told the Chandigarh administration that the repair cost of old government houses will go up in the coming years. Hence, it should consider reconstruction in a phased manner.

The preliminary report was sought by UT on the structural stability of 1,400 houses in Sector 22, Sector 7 and Sector 19, but the report is about such accommodations in Sector 22. The report was commissioned last year and submitted in March this year.

“These houses are old and require regular and special maintenance. And the costs may rise in the coming years. In view of this, the department may look into reconstruction of these houses in a phased manner,” the report says.

NITTTR also said that the final report in respect to other places will get delayed as due to the pandemic, they were not being allowed to enter the premises by residents.

Part of compliance report submitted to HC

The report is part of a compliance report submitted this week in Punjab and Haryana high court by the administration as part of steps being undertaken to increase housing for employees in the city. The proceedings for the same are being monitored by the high court since 2017.

The UT’s status report also mentions that high-rise buildings in Sectors 7 and 22 cannot be constructed since these are part of a dozen odd sectors where under the first phase reutilisation of government housing is being considered. Other sectors are 10, 11, 15, 16, 19, 20, 23, 24, 27, 28 and 29.

The status report also mentions that redensification should not be carried out since it is a complex issue and will create a lot of problems. “It will put pressure on the existing infrastructure—drinking water, drainage system, parking, schools, colleges, hospitals etc. So any work related to redensification would violate the recommendation of the Chandigarh Master Plan 2031,” a document in the report reads.

To the high court suggestion that UT should aim at 5,000 houses in multi-storey mode, UT said a final decision will be taken after a complete report from NITTTR, adding that 192 houses were being constructed for police personnel, besides 144 and 216 under two other categories. All these three projects are in Dhanas.

The UT’s report also said that multi-storey towers were coming up in the IT park, which will also cater to the housing needs of employees. UT has told the court that the houses to be offered for allotment would be photographed and photos uploaded on a portal so that those interested did not have to physically visit the place. As for renovation, 46 agencies had been roped in for maintenance work.

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