Nearly a year after residents vacated, legal hurdles hold up Signature View demolition

The prolonged wait has left hundreds of families living in rented accommodation while the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) continues to pay their monthly rents -- ₹50,000 to HIG flat owners and ₹38,000 to MIG flat owners

Nearly a year after residents of the structurally unsafe Signature View Apartments in Mukherjee Nagar were asked to leave their homes, the 336-flat complex remains standing, while its demolition and reconstruction plans remain caught up in legal and procedural hurdles.

The apartments, developed by the DDA over 2.16 acres, comprise 12 towers with six- and 12-storey structures and were completed around 2010, with possession offered from 2012. Concerns over the condition of the buildings emerged within a couple of years after that and residents were made to vacate in October 2025. (HT Archive)

The prolonged wait has left hundreds of families living in rented accommodation while the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) continues to pay their rents. Residents say they have been repeatedly given assurances about the demolition, only to see the process remain stalled.

“It is a year now since most of the residents shifted to rented homes. By October 2025, for the few remaining families, the MCD and DDA had disconnected the power and water connections so that they could move out and demolition can be carried out. However, the demolition has not even started. We don’t know when reconstruction will happen. At this rate, we’re not sure if we’ll even get our homes back in the next 10 years,” said Gaurav Pandey, member of the Signature View Apartment RWA.

The latest delay is linked to two separate legal proceedings concerning the residential complex. One relates to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI)’s inquiry into alleged irregularities in the construction of apartments. The agency had sought access to the site to collect evidence, including samples of construction material, before demolition could proceed. The CBI has now cleared the site for demolition after completing its evidence collection, according to officials familiar with the matter.

The second case relates to the floor area ratio (FAR) and the number of flats that can be constructed as part of the redevelopment. Residents have challenged the DDA’s proposal to use additional FAR to construct more flats on the existing site.

The issue has remained contentious because residents want the redevelopment to replace their existing homes without increasing the number of dwelling units in the complex. A December 2024 Delhi high court judgment had dealt with the demolition, reconstruction and rehabilitation of residents, while also holding that the DDA could not construct additional flats and that the benefit of enhanced FAR should accrue to existing flat owners.

The matter continues to be contested, with residents also concerned about provisions in the new Delhi Master Plan-2047 that allow greater flexibility in redevelopment, including no prescribed height restriction for certain residential redevelopment projects, subject to statutory clearances. They fear that any increase in density at Signature View could put pressure on already strained civic infrastructure.

“It would be a mess if the DDA tried to increase the number of flats. There is not enough infrastructure to sustain such a move. There is no drainage or water supply plan and the road itself will get highly congested if density increases. The road already gets completely waterlogged even after a shower,” said Pandey.

The uncertainty has continued despite the DDA having already initiated several steps for the demolition. The authority had floated a tender for demolishing the complex and, in April, officials said the contractor had been hired and that the demolition would begin within weeks of the CBI clearing the site. But for residents, the wait continues.

“Residents are just being given date after date with no clarity on what will happen,” said Amrendra Jha, another resident.

Residents started moving out after the complex was declared unsafe, following structural assessments that found serious defects. The apartments, developed by the DDA over 2.16 acres, comprise 12 towers with six- and 12-storey structures and were completed around 2010, with possession offered from 2012.

Concerns over the condition of the buildings emerged within a couple of years after that and inspections found cracks and other structural deficiencies in pillars, beams and walls. An assessment by IIT Delhi eventually deemed the buildings unfit for habitation. The lieutenant governor subsequently approved their demolition and reconstruction.

In September 2025, the Delhi high court directed the remaining occupants to vacate within three months and ordered the DDA to pay a monthly facilitation amount of ₹50,000 to HIG flat owners and ₹38,000 to MIG flat owners.

The court also ordered that amount be increased by 10% annually until reconstructed flats are handed over.

While DDA did not comment on the matter, an official said that the CBI has finally cleared the site in August and demolition is likely to start soon.