Residents of north Delhi’s Signature View Apartments, which was declared “structurally damaged” by IIT-Delhi during a safety audit, have asked the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) to define modalities of the proposed redevelopment of the housing complex and give clarity over the rent to be paid to those who will have to be relocated from the society.
They also sought a meeting with DDA’s member (Finance), member (Engineering) and commissioner (Housing) Signature View Apartments for a reasonable buyback option for owners or allottees.
Approximately 1,600 people live in the Signature View Apartments housing complex that comprises 12 towers.
On complaints of residents regarding the poor condition of buildings, Delhi's Lieutenant Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena on January 24 ordered the DDA to redevelop the “structurally damaged” housing complex in Mukherjee Nagar and help residents facing “grave danger to life and property”. He also directed the DDA to register FIR against erring officials and contractors.
Following LG's directions, the DDA has asked the Central Bureau of Investigation to register FIRs against its 39 officials, contractors, and builders involved in the construction of Signature View Apartments, for “cheating, criminal breach of trust, and endangering the lives of residents”.
Offer not clear
Bhupinder Chaudhary, a resident of the housing complex, said that the DDA should clear its stand on the modalities of the redevelopment and the amount of rent to be paid to the residents who are to be relocated.
He said the DDA had given an offer of redevelopment and also provided an option of buyback but these offers were not clear on several points which include the amount of money to be given, the modalities of redevelopment and rents to be given to residents.
“The DDA should clarify how will they will redevelop the housing complex. How many towers they will construct? What will be the FAR (floor area ratio) and height of new condominiums? The Authority should also provide rent at prevailing rates to the residents who are to be relocated so that they can rent out a similar accommodation in a similar locality,” Chaudhary said.
Due to ambiguity on these issues the Resident Welfare Association (RWA) of Signature View Apartments had last month written a letter to the DDA, he said.
The letter stated that DDA is under obligation to construct the buildings and hand over the respective flats at their cost. The residents demanded that in the buyback option residents should be compensated at prevailing market rates.
“A meeting be scheduled with member (Finance), member (Engineering) and commissioner (Housing) with the representatives of Signature View Apartments for reasonable buyback option for owners or allottees,” residents said in the letter to the DDA.
Considering the risk and threat to the allottees, fixation of rent is very critical to enable residents to rehabilitate to a safe place as soon as possible, and the same must be agreed upon and executed at the earliest, the letter said.
DDA’s take
DDA officials said the Authority is concerned about the welfare of the residents of the society and all efforts are being made to address their grievances.
A DDA official, who wished not to be named, said the Authority is in touch with the residents and a meeting is likely to be held with them this month to decide the future course of action.
The officials against whom the FIR will be lodged include three Members (Engineering), six chief engineers, nine superintending engineers, nine executive engineers, four assistant engineers and eight junior engineers.
The apartment complex was built between 2007 and 2010 and allotted to the residents in 2011-2012. But in just a few years, the buildings became structurally unsafe.
According to residents, construction-related issues started surfacing from 2012-13, soon after the society became operational. This forced the residents to complain to the DDA.
Residents noticed that the condition of the building deteriorated rapidly, with concrete falling off ceilings, plaster peeling off walls, beams and walls developing cracks and iron bars corroding.
A vigilance inquiry by DDA has established “collusion” between its officials and builders or contractors, which resulted in “compromising the quality and structural safety of the construction, causing wrongful loss to DDA, besides putting at peril the lives and property of hundreds of residents.”
The IIT-Delhi study conducted in 2021-22 at the behest of DDA had made a recommendation to “vacate and dismantle” the buildings immediately.