DDA offers buyback, reconstruction, flat swap options to owners of Signature View Apartments

NEW DELHI: Residents of the structurally damaged Signature View Apartments here have been
offered three options — buyback, rent for the time period till the flats are reconstructed or
apartments at other locations — by the DDA, officials said on Thursday.
Lieutenant Governor V K Saxena, who is also the chairman of the Delhi Development Authority,
had ordered the body to redevelop the apartments in Delhi’s Mukherjee Nagar and proactively
support 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, said a senior
DDA official.

“We have offered three options to the residents — one is that we buy back the flats at current
rates, second is that we reconstruct the flats and offer them rental for the period during which
the construction is happening and the third is that we offer them DDA flats at other locations,” he
added.
A meeting was also held between DDA officials and the residents on Thursday with the latter
raising some queries on the options offered by the DDA.
When asked whether any deadline has been given to the residents, the official said they have
asked to choose the option quickly since the building is dangerous.
“After they choose, the MCD will also be involved,” he said.
Explaining the three options, he said the DDA has flats that are available to be swapped. As for
the rental option, the DDA has done a market analysis of rents in Mukherjee Nagar and
adjoining areas.
“If they take the offer of reconstruction, we will reconstruct them as per current norms,” he
added.
Constructed in 2007-2009, the complex comprises 336 HIG/MIG flats.
Shortly after, however, the flats started facing construction-related issues, forcing the residents
to complain to the DDA. A 2021-2022 study conducted by IIT-Delhi at the behest of DDA found
the building to be structurally unsafe.

The study also made a recommendation to “vacate and dismantle” the complex, the official said.