NEW DELHI: The RWA of the Signature View Apartments in Mukherjee Nagar here, which has been declared unsafe for habitation, has written to the DDA requesting it to allow immediate payment of rent to those residents who are willing to evacuate.
According to the letter dated February 15, it has been almost 15 months since the IIT-Delhi report recommended immediate evacuation and dismantling of the towers in the housing society to save lives of allottees/residents.
“Almost 70 per cent of the residents have expressed their willingness to vacate and hand over the possession of the flats for the reconstruction, subject to payment of rent immediately on the evacuation. The DDA neither acknowledged the offer/proposal of the majority of the allottees/residents nor came with any alternative plan to redress the concern,” said the letter by the residents’ welfare association (RWA) of the society.
The Delhi Development Authority is aware that few residents have approached the Delhi High Court in November last year and the matter is getting delayed for want of reply of the DDA, it said.
The court considering the seriousness and gravity of the matter has always given short dates to take conclusive view and pass final orders at the earliest, it further stated.
“Considering the gravity of the problem and the risk it carries, DDA’s approach of delaying the court proceedings is putting the lives of residents in great risk. We once again appeal that our request for immediate payment of rent with evacuation is allowed to those who are willing to evacuate. An immediate reply to the petition in the Delhi HC be filed to take the matter to conclusion,” the statement added.
The apartment complex in Mukherjee Nagar, built in 2007-09 with 336 MIG and HIG flats, has some construction issues and is up for demolition by the DDA.
Lieutenant Governor V K Saxena, who is also the chairman of the DDA, had earlier ordered the agency to redevelop the apartments and extend support to the thousands of residents facing “grave danger to life and property”.
As part of the rehabilitation plan, three options have been given to the residents, a DDA official had earlier said.
A 2021-2022 study conducted by the IIT-Delhi at the behest of the DDA found the building to be structurally unsafe.
