Chandigarh, Feb. 10 -- Even though the Chandigarh Housing Board (CHB) had decided to auction a prime parcel of land in Sector 53 to a private developer, the move has run into a major hurdle due to a restrictive clause imposed by the UT Estate Office at the time of allotment.

When the land was allotted to CHB in 2003, the Estate Office had included a condition prohibiting the sale of the land to any third party and mandating that the board develop the site on its own. As a result, CHB is currently unable to proceed with the proposed auction, which was scheduled for March this year.

A senior CHB officer said the board had earlier overlooked the clause, but after it recently came to light, a formal request had been sent to the Estate Offic...