Delhi Fire Services headquarter project stalled amid delay in vacating CP building

A senior DFS official said that they have finalised Shankar Road fire station as their temporary office during construction but relocation has not been possible because the premises are yet to be vacated.

Ten months after chief minister Rekha Gupta announced a budget allocation of ₹110 crore for construction of the new building of the Delhi Fire Services (DFS) headquarters in Connaught Place, the project remains stalled as the staff are unable to move out of the existing building, which is declared dangerous by the Public Works Department (PWD).

The DFS has asked the PWD to conduct a soil inspection , but the process cannot begin until the staff vacate the premises. (PTI)

A senior DFS official, on the condition of anonymity, said that they have finalised Shankar Road fire station as their temporary office during construction but relocation has not been possible because the premises are yet to be vacated.

“The Delhi government’s Pay and Account Office (PAO) is running on two floors at the fire station. The department has written to them multiple times since August last year, but they have not shifted,” the officer said.

The official said that several places, including offices held by other government departments, were examined before the Shankar Road fire station was selected following a “feasibility test” conducted by the department.

In her budget speech on March 25, Gupta allocated ₹110 crore for the reconstruction of the building, which has stood untouched since the 1960s. During a visit to the site on April 25, the chief minister said, “The government has taken a significant and sensitive decision to approve the construction of a new, modern building,” adding that work would begin shortly in a ₹504 crore overhaul.

However, officials aware of the matter said that the department has received only ₹10 crore so far for preliminary work. “The money that’s received was to get some examinations done and to hire consultants for the building plan. The money for construction will come after everything is finalised,” he said.

The DFS has asked the PWD to conduct a soil inspection , but the process cannot begin until the staff vacate the premises. “The inspection has to be carried out before the building is razed,” the official said.

Another official said that the government’s mulling over whether the building will be used in Public-Private Partnership (PPP). “They are considering monetising the building as it will be a multi-storey building but that decision has not been taken yet,” the official said.

The DFS headquarters is spread across 10,000 square metres. The two-storey building houses over 500 employees, and an open ground serves as parking space for fire tenders and other equipment. Wooden shelves sag under the weight of yellowing files and wall panels have cracked and crumbled, revealed the spot check by HT.

The paint on the ceiling peels in long, curling strips. The building’s outer façade, a cemented extended shade once meant to provide shelter from the summer sun, is broken, listing to one side.

There is no official archival history of DFS but available records show that the present headquarters was constructed in the early 1960s, after the establishment of nine other stations across Delhi—Jhandewalan, Jor Bagh, Shahdara, Pusa Road, Shahjahanpur Road, Chanakyapuri, Central Secretariat, Connaught Place, and Old Delhi.

DFS, by then, had become a government agency, transitioning from its earlier control under the municipal corporation. Barring repairs, the building has remained untouched since then, officials said.

“The building is not only dangerous, in the last few months, concrete slabs have broken and fallen on computers. Thankfully, no person sustained injuries,” the official said.