The Punjab and Haryana high court (HC) has issued a notice to Tata Camelot Housing Colony, asking whether it violated environmental and ecological norms.
Tata Housing Development Company (THDC) acquired land for the project, located close to the Sukhna lake in the Shivalik foothills, from two societies — Punjab MLAs Housing Society, where the state’s 125 politicians had purchased 20 acres for about Rs15 lakh each eight years ago, and Defence Services Housing Society, where Punjab’s bureaucrats owned about 30 acres.
THDC, which had been trying to create a strong foothold in the state’s real estate sector, paid each politician Rs82 lakh and promised a flat worth Rs2 crore. A similar deal was struck with the bureaucrats.
The company, which has planned nineteen 25-35 storey towers on the land, paid Punjab MLAs Housing Society Rs106 crore and Defence Services Housing Society Rs125 crore. But now it is seeking Rs8,000 to Rs9,000 per square metre for each of the 1,000 flats it proposes to sell in phase-I.
What HC is concerned about is that the high-rises could affect the beauty and heritage of Chandigarh.
