New Delhi: While Signature View Apartments has been completely vacated, Delhi Development Authority (DDA) is likely to take more time before beginning the demolition process.The authority’s chief vigilance officer has written to CBI, seeking permission to initiate the razing of the structurally unsafe buildings, as the investigating agency is conducting an inquiry into the matter, said an official.
Built between 2007 and 2010 and allotted in 2011-12, the Mukherjee Nagar apartments, part of a DDA housing scheme, began showing structural distress within a few years. The authority commissioned a structural audit by IIT Delhi in 2021-22, which recommended immediate evacuation and dismantling of the complex, which comprises 336 flats spread across 12 towers, because of safety concerns.The authority is also awaiting Delhi High Court’s decision on an increased floor area ratio (FAR) sought by residents. The matter is scheduled for hearing in March. The authority has agreed to the residents’ welfare association’s demand for a facilitation allowance from July 2023, subject to submission of proof, such as zero electricity and water bills.DDA has decided to demolish the apartments using the conventional floor-by-floor method instead of imploding the towers after experts found their structural quality to be extremely poor, making it unsafe to drill into weak walls to insert explosives. “Given the dense population of the adjoining areas and the geographical location of the apartments — it is surrounded by SFS Flats Society on one side and residential and commercial establishments on the other — it was decided that the structures should be demolished manually,” an official said.On Oct 13, 2025, a joint team of Municipal Corporation of Delhi and DDA disconnected water and power supplies to the apartments after several residents had sought an extension of the Oct 12 deadline set by Supreme Court to vacate all the flats.Also last year, CBI registered an FIR against 28 retired DDA officials and private contractors on charges of criminal conspiracy, corruption and use of substandard materials in the construction of the apartments. Delhi LG V K Saxena directed the vigilance department to conduct an inquiry and initiate criminal proceedings against the accused officers.
