Chandigarh, Sept. 1 -- After nearly a decade of inactivity, the Chandigarh Housing Board is back at the drawing board, sleeves rolled up and bracing for a busy few months. With work already afoot to launch the long-pending General Housing Scheme in Sector 53 in the third week of September, the board is now preparing to roll out a major housing project in Sector 54. Going even bigger than the Sector 53 scheme, featuring 492 flats, CHB is planning to build 1,000 flats in Sector 54, spread over 32 acres, reclaimed by clearing the illegal furniture market and Adarsh Colony in June and July. Significantly, the project will offer 250 units in each category - 4BHK (bedroom-hall-kitchen) for large families, 3BHK and 2BHK for the middle-income group, 1BHK for small families and single inhabitants, and EWS flats for lower-income households. The illegal furniture market, in operation since 1985, was demolished by the UT administration on July 20 this year, reclaiming around 15 acres of government land worth Rs.400 crore. Before this, Adarsh Colony, a slum settlement, which came up nearly two decades ago on approximately 12 acres of government land, was razed on June 19. The estimated value of the reclaimed land is Rs.480 crore. "With the demolition of the illegal market and Adarsh Colony, the site is clear now. We have prepared the layout plan, which will be submitted within a week. Once approved, the scheme will be launched soon," a senior CHB officer said. The officer added that costing details will be finalised after approvals. In addition to the Sector 54 proposal, CHB is finally ready to launch its long-pending General Housing Scheme in Sector 53 in the third week of September. Spread over 8.98 acres, the project will comprise 492 flats in buildings up to five storeys. This will be the board's first offering in nearly a decade, having last successfully launched a housing scheme only in 2016, in Sector 51. A senior official confirmed that the brochure for the Sector 53 scheme had been finalised and the project will be launched in the third week of September, at newly revised collector rates. Under the revised rates, effective April 1 this year, prices have increased sharply - a three-bedroom flat will cost around Rs.2.30 crore, a two-bedroom flat Rs.1.97 crore and an EWS unit Rs.74 lakh. Meanwhile, the board is also reviving its ambitious housing project at Rajiv Gandhi Chandigarh Technology Park, nearly three years after the Union ministry of environment and forests denied clearance in 2022, pointing out that the site falls within the eco-sensitive zone of the Sukhna Wildlife Sanctuary and warning that high-rise structures could disrupt migratory bird flight paths. Under the revised proposal, CHB will limit construction to low-rise buildings, with ground+3 floors....