New Delhi, Oct 14 (PTI) Residents of Signature View Apartments in northwest Delhi's Mukherjee Nagar have demanded that the DDA change the 100 per cent evacuation clause to a 75 per cent mandate so that people relocating to temporary accommodation can start receiving rent from the agency.

The society's residents said the Delhi Development Authority's (DDA) reconstruction agreement contains a clause according to which the agency will start paying rent to the residents only when all 336 owners sign the agreement and evacuate the premises.

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Lieutenant Governor V K Saxena, also the chairman of the DDA, had ordered the agency to redevelop the apartments and proactively support the thousands of residents facing "grave danger to life and property".

A senior DDA official said it is not financially feasible to pay the rent before the reconstruction work has begun.

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The DDA official said, "It is our earnest request to the residents to vacate the society. The apartments are structurally unsafe and this is being done for the safety of the residents. We request them to sign the tripartite agreement by October 15 and vacate the society by November 30 so that we can begin the demolition and reconstruction work."

"We have begun consultations with agencies regarding demolition and will float tenders for it. Subsequently, we will float an RFP for the reconstruction," the official added.

He said they were ready to give a week more to the residents to sign the tripartite agreement.

Amrendra Kumar Rakesh, who has been living in the society since 2012, said that the society has 336 flats and all the owners want the DDA to reduce the eligibility percentage to 75 per cent from 100 per cent for consent and evacuation, the mandate for releasing rent amount.

"Around 80 to 85 families, including tenants, have left the society earlier this year due to safety concerns. We demand that 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," Rakesh said.

"The eligibility condition which is 100 per cent should be dropped to 75 per cent which is as per the law prevailing in other states so that those willing to move out can leave their flats and they can start getting rent immediately," he added.

Another resident Dinesh Popli, who has been living in the society since 2014, said those who left the apartments and are staying elsewhere are having to pay rent from their pockets. Popli said according to the DDA's proposal, residents of Middle Income Group (MIG) flats will be given Rs 38,000 on evacuation, and occupants of High Income Group (HIG) flats will be paid Rs 50,000.

"The rent for such houses in our neighbourhood is around Rs 75,000 to Rs 1,50,000. So we cannot move out unless the DDA gives us the rent amount," he added.

"Most of the people have agreed for reconstruction as the amount DDA offered in the buyback is much less than the market rate. No agreement has been signed yet between the residents and the DDA for the reconstruction. People have spent hefty amounts for renovating their houses and now who will bear those expenses?" Popli said.

Rekha Kumar, who has been living in Signature View Apartments for seven years, said, "We have no clarity about the floor maps of the new flats and how much extra we need to pay. Convincing all people for the same thing is difficult due to which we think that the condition of releasing rent should be relaxed."

"The DDA is saying they will charge us for the balcony as they would extend it in the new construction. Why would we give more as we have already spent a lot?" Kumar said.

Responding to queries about doing away with the clause of 100 per cent evacuation, the DDA official said the reconstruction work cannot start if some families continue staying there at the society.

"It is not a financially feasible option that we pay the rent even before the reconstruction work begins. All these things were worked out in consensus with the RWA," he added. As part of the rehabilitation plan, three options have been given to the residents, a DDA official had said.

"We have offered three options to the residents — one is that we buy back the flats at current rates, second is we reconstruct the flats and offer them rental for the period during which the construction is happening and third, we offer them DDA flats at other locations,” the official had said.

Constructed in 2007-2009, the complex comprises 336 flats, including both HIG and MIG. 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 above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)