New Delhi: The Delhi Development Authority has issued a tender to hire contractors to demolish the Signature View Apartments in north Delhi's Mukherjee Nagar, officials said on Thursday. The apartment complex, built in 2007-09 with 336 MIG and HIG flats, has some construction issues and has been up for demolition by the DDA.
The notice invited bids for, "Dismantling demolishing the existing and structures/buildings of 336 HIGMIG houses (also known as Signature View Apartments) at Mukherjee Nagar, Delhi, including disposal and transportation of debris to the approved MCD C&D waste dumping ground, and giving credit for serviceable materials from the buildings."
In a judgement issued earlier this month, the Delhi High Court asked the Municipal Corporation of Delhi to specifically explain the basis on which the building in question has been declared to be dangerous. The high court asked the Centre to file an affidavit after consultation with its structural experts and inspection of the building and specify in clear terms whether it is possible to carry out any repair work in the building.
The Union of India shall also specify the status of the building as regards its habitability, structural safety and as to the course of action with regard thereto, it said. Amarendra Kumar Rakesh, the president of the Residents' Welfare Association of the building, said the owners had a meeting with the DDA officials on Thursday in which they asked them to comply with the order of the high court at the earliest.
The residents are being compelled to continue their stay in the dangerous building without any financial support from the DDA, Rakesh said. He also said that a resident of the society has filed a petition in the high court requesting a re-examination of the structural condition of the buildings. He said the RWA opposes the request.
"We have the same demand -- we should be exempted from clause 336 that states all people should vacate their houses and give possession to the DDA, following which the authority would release the rent amount. "Today, we had a meeting with DDA officials and asked them to present their case in a strong way to resolve this issue as soon as possible. We also told them that we were with the authority to oppose the application for retesting etc as we need the urgent solution for this issue," Rakesh said.
The RWA suggested DDA to agree to an interim arrangement to pay the proposed rent for the interim period to the owners from the date of vacation of flats, he said. During this interregnum period, the DDA can start the demolition, he suggested.
