Chandigarh, May 21 -- In a major relief to senior citizens and persons with disabilities living in multi-storey Chandigarh Housing Board (CHB) units, the UT estate office has allowed them to install lifts in their blocks, but with necessary approvals. In a letter to the chief executive officer (CEO) of the board, the UT estate office said the allottees are allowed to install lifts, provided the design is manually approved by a private architect empanelled with the Chandigarh administration. Before seeking design approval, the allottees must obtain a no-objection certificate (NOC) from the CHB. Before issuing an NOC, the administration will serve a 15-day notice to all allottees in the block so that they have the opportunity to opt in andcontribute equally to the cost, should they wish to use thelift. The term "block" refers to all housing units connected by a common staircase. The estate office maintained that the order applies exclusively to housing units and flats constructed by the CHB and cannot be cited as a precedent in future cases. In older buildings that don't have sufficient internal space to accommodate lifts, the administration has granted permission to construct lifts on a nearby suitable land, subject to certain conditions. This does not mean that the ownership of the said government land will be transferred to the allottee. In other words, the lift may be constructed on government land, but the land will remain in government control, and its ownership will not be transferred to private persons....