VELLORE: Around 650 out of over 1,000 allottees, who were given house sites by the Tamil Nadu Housing Board under the Phase-II scheme in Arcot in 1997 are aggrieved over the issue of notices asking them to pay an "exorbitant land and development cost".

Memorandum

In a memorandum sent to the Chief Minister, the TNHB Arcot Residents' Welfare Association stated that while the TNHB fixed the land cost payable to the original landowners at Rs.56 per square feet, several landowners approached the Madras High Court for enhancement of the amount.

The Board paid a sum of Rs.1,000 for a cent of land in respect of 19 litigants, based on the court's verdict and the consensus arrived at through private negotiation. But it had "wrongly mentioned" in the working sheet that it had paid a sum of Rs.3,000.

Wrong calculation

The `wrong calculation' has resulted in the Board arriving at the final land and development cost, which was Rs.3.89 crore more than the actual expenditure as on June 30, 1997 and Rs.12 crore more as on September 30, 2006 after including the accruing compound interest at the rate of 18 per cent per annum.

This "wrong calculation" has resulted in the Board arriving at a final land and development cost, which was five times the actual cost.

The association pointed out in its memorandum that despite taking the above issues to the notice of the Managing Director and other higher officials of the TNHB at Chennai in person as well as through letters, no step had been taken to rectify the situation.

It stated that in view of the wrong calculation, the allottees were being asked to pay a huge difference in cost, ranging from Rs. 1 lakh to nearly Rs. 6 lakh per allottee, depending on the extent of land purchased by them as well as the location of the land.

`Revise final cost'

Hence the association was requesting the Chief Minister to direct the Managing Director of the TNHB to properly revise the final and development cost arrived at, based on realistic calculations and hand over the sale deeds to the allottees.

When asked about the grievances of the allottees, Govindan, Executive Engineer/Administrative Officer of the TNHB, Vellore told The Hindu that though the Madras High Court has reduced the amount payable to the landowners, who gave their land for the project from Rs.3,000 to Rs.1,000 per cent, the TNHB had arrived at the final cost after taking into account the possible enhanced compensation payable by the Board in the event of the landowners appealing to the Supreme Court.

The Board had suggested to the allottees to pay an initial amount now and pay the balance later after the legal issues were settled, the official added.

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