NEW DELHI: Delhi Development Authority (DDA) has started the process of hiring an agency to demolish the 336 flats at Signature View Apartments in Mukherjee Nagar that have been deemed too risky for residing in.
“The task includes dismantling and demolishing the existing structures of 336 HIG and MIG houses. The agency will also be responsible for the disposal and transportation of debris to an approved MCD construction and demolition waste dumping ground, and for giving credit for serviceable materials from buildings,” the notice inviting e-tender, issued by the authority on March 17, said.
The task will be completed within 120 days from the 7th day of the date of issue of the award letter or the date of handing over of the site, whichever is later, stated the authority in the document. “The last date for submitting documents by interested agencies will be April 14, while the technical bid will be opened the next day. Only those fulfilling minimum eligible criteria can apply,” the authority said.
The move came a few days after DDA issued standard operating procedures (SOP) to all residents and the resident welfare association (RWA) of Signature View to determine the date for vacating the apartments recently.
RWA members, however, said that the authority still lacked clarity on the time and date for collecting documents and keys from allottees or flat owners vacating the apartments. They said that their engineering wing had also written to the housing department on March 12 seeking clarity on NOCs to be given to the residents vacating the flats and whether any record of the inventories in the flats needed to be maintained.
In a letter accessed by TOI, the engineering wing also said that some residents had already submitted documents through emails and in hard copies. Therefore, clarifications on the collection of documents from residents and the vacation of flats may be initiated.
The Signature View Apartments complex has 10 towers with a stilt+10 storeyed structure and two towers with a stilt+6 storeyed structures. It was constructed between 2007 and 2010 and allotted to residents in 2011-2012. However, within a few years, residents began raising alarm over the structural safety of the buildings. The DDA subsequently conducted a study through IIT Delhi in 2021-22, which recommended “vacating and dismantling” the buildings immediately. The DDA’s SOP is linked to the residents vacating the houses.
Regarding the latest SOPs, residents have written to DDA’s housing department for clarification on the date for release of the rent. They claimed that residents of 111 of the 336 apartments had vacated the premises and around 100 had submitted soft copies of legal documents to DDA.
“But the DDA should clear its stand on the tentative date when rent will be released as this will mo- tivate others to vacate their flats on priority. As of now, the 111 people who left the place are paying rent from their pockets, which is not fair,” said Amarendra Kumar Rakesh, the president of the Signature View Apartments RWA.
He said that Delhi High Court had already given a direction in Dec to the DDA to get the flats vacated in three months. “It also asked DDA to pay rent as soon as the flats are vacated, yet the authority is dillydallying on the issue,” he said.
The DDA’s housing department issued a circular specifying the SOP to all residents on Feb 25 after a joint meeting with residents or owners. It stated that the date of vacation of flats will be determined from the date when the electricity and water connection is disconnected.
“Residents must give in writing the details of their vacation to housing management staff as well as the engineering staff. The residents who are yet to vacate must ensure that a written intimation is given to the engineering department, with a copy to housing management, so that timely handling can be done,” the circular said.
It also stated that the engineering department would verify the application and ensure that all dues, including electricity and water connections and other outstanding payments, were settled. “After that, the resident owner will hand over the keys once the above processes are completed. The engineering department will later share details with the housing department,” stated the circular further.
