Government may soon carry out audit of EWS flats built in outer Delhi a decade ago

NEW DELHI: The Delhi government may soon carry out a safety audit of the flats it built for the economically weaker section about a decade ago in outer Delhi.

A team of Delhi State Industrial and Infrastructure Development Corporation (DSIIDC) engineers, which investigated the reasons behind the collapse of a block of flats in northwest Delhi’s Bawana earlier this month, found the condition of the buildings “highly dilapidated”, said sources.

With no upkeep and frequent thefts of water and sanitary pipes, doors, windows and even the iron used in pillars, these structures have weakened over the years.

“There is a need to do a safety audit to find out the kind of reinforcement that is required to maintain these structures,” said an official. “In the current condition, no one can stay in these flats. Urgent repair work is required.”

Four people, including a 9-year-old girl, were killed and at least two more women were injured after a four-storey vacant building collapsed near Bawana village in outer Delhi. DSIIDC had built 3,680 flats under Rajiv Ratan Awas Yojana during 2007-10. It immediately set up an inquiry panel to investigate the reasons behind the collapse and fix responsibility.
The security audit is not enough. The government must investigate what led to such shoddy and thoughtless construction that the homes remained unoccupied resulting in colossal waste of public resources.TimesView
According to officials, over 38,000 EWS flats were built by various agencies in Delhi under JawaharLal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission and Rajiv Ratan Awas Yojana. Only a few thousands of such flats in Bawana, Nangloi and Savda Ghewra etc have been allotted and the rest are lying vacant for more than a decade.

While the Delhi government wants to rehabilitate people living in slum clusters, the Centre wants to rent out these flats under its Affordable Rental Housing Complexes Scheme as these houses were constructed from the central funding.