1990:The Chandigarh Administration acquires 22-acre land in Burail village by paying paltry Rs 3 lakh per acre compensation to develop housing societies. The land has not been used and stands encroached at present by people living here for nearly two decades.

1991: Around 8 acres of land acquired in Manimajra at Rs 2-lakh per acre for development purposes. Auctioned recently to private developers at Rs 20 crore per acre.

2002: Administration acquires around 70 acres in Badheri village for Rs 11.80-lakh per acre to build school. The land lies unused and it isn’t clear as to what the Administration will do with it.

2004: Land for IT Park (Phase I and II) acquired in Kishangarh village over a period of time. Firstly, 111 acres acquired between 1950 and 1977 to set up brick kilns. These were never built and the land was lying unutilised. As the IT Park was to be set up here, the demand for land increased. In 2004, 267 acres of land was acquired again at Rs 10 lakh an acre. Around 123 acres was sold off to Parsvnath for Rs 821 crore. The Chandigarh Housing Board was to earn 30 per cent share from the housing project.   

The UT Administration has indeed been acquiring land in various villages in the periphery of the city at low prices, only to sell them later at whopping prices after keeping them unused for a few years.

The trend of haphazardly acquiring land, mainly for development purposes, exposes the lack of planning by the Chandigarh Administration. The development purposes, like building housing societies and schools, were later written off and the same land was sold to private developers for handsome profits.

... contd.