DDA housing scheme with 13,000 flats in Delhi gets further delayed by a month

The new housing scheme of the Delhi Development Authority (DDA), which was to be launched around January 26, may get delayed.

Without sharing the next possible date for the launch, senior DDA officials made it clear that the registration process will not start till the infrastructure is developed and facilities such as parks, water supply, and shopping complexes can be made available.

Under the scheme, the authority will offer 13,000 flats at locations such as Sarita Vihar, Jasola, Dwarka, Pitampura, Sukhdev Vihar, Narela, Rohini, Jahangirpuri, Loknayakpuram, Dilshad Garden, Paschim Vihar, Bindapur and Mukherjee Nagar.

“It may be delayed further for a month,” said an official. But he added that weekly meetings are being convened to keep a check on redevelopment work going on in various housing complexes to attract prospective buyers.

Read: Why you shouldn’t worry if you haven’t got a flat in DDA draw

“We are monitoring each and every development. Nothing has been finalised yet. Status is checked in weekly meetings. Priority is to remove anomalies. Only then will we launch the scheme,” said DDA vice-chairman Udai Pratap Singh.

All of these flats were offered in the previous schemes but were later surrendered by allottees because of poor construction and infrastructure. A total of 11,544 flats were surrendered or allotments cancelled for various reasons. Majority of them are one bedroom, hall and kitchen (BHK). A senior DDA official said the cost of those units will remain the same as it was in 2014.

Read: DDA scheme 2014: Allottees unhappy with ‘smaller than store room-size’ flats

The land-owning agency had earlier set up a committee of chief engineers of respective districts to look into the complaints of poor infrastructure and civil works.

In one of those meetings, non- availability of shops and market for daily needs was also discussed. Following the reports of poor infrastructure, it was found that at some locations, even the nearest milk booth is at least six kilometers away.

“The tendering process to allot shops in housing complexes and their vicinity has also been initiated,” said Singh.

The agency’s plan to launch the scheme delayed further because of the demonetisation announced by the Centre as the banks had expressed their inability to make arrangements for the same in view of the heavy rush.

Originally, the scheme was to begin around Diwali but the dates were pushed to January. Later, sources had told HT the new housing scheme might be launched around January 26.

The final approval for this was given in December, however, exact dates were not disclosed.