Pragati Apartments: DDA renames Kathputli Colony, phase 1 ready by this year

Residents displaced since 2017 will return to new towers with parks, retail outlets, cultural centres, and multipurpose halls spread over 5.2 hectares.

The Delhi Development Authority (DDA) has renamed Kathputli Colony as Pragati Apartments, with officials saying that the first phase of the redeveloped slum rehabilitation colony is likely to be ready for possession by the end of this year.

The redeveloped complex has 10 towers and community amenities including health and childcare facilities, craft areas, shops, and religious and cultural sites. (HT Archive)

Officials said the project has gained pace in 2025, with some towers nearing completion to provide 2,800 flats, each measuring about 30.5 square metres. “We are expecting that the allotment for the first phase of houses will be allotted by the end of the year, as much of the construction is almost complete. The name ‘Pragati’ means development and is being adopted for this area to dissociate its identity with a slum cluster that is usually related to lack of development and unsanitary conditions,” a DDA official said.

The redeveloped complex will consist of 10 towers, each with a stilt and 15 floors. Facilities planned for the colony include a heritage/exhibition museum, Koushal Kala Vikas Kendra, multipurpose hall, basti vikas kendra, health centre, shishu vatika (nursery), amphitheatre, essential retail outlet, police post, religious site, school site, selling booth/weekly market, art and craft exhibition area, children’s park, and an area for marriage ceremonies.

Spread across 5.2 hectares (52,000 sqm), the layout designates 34,320 sqm for residential EWS housing, 9,700 sqm for remunerative housing and 8,140 sqm for remunerative commercial development.

The DDA said this name change is part of a pattern where other in-situ rehabilitation projects were also rechristened. In November 2022, Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated 3,024 redeveloped flats at Kalkaji, renamed as Asha Kiran Apartments, while in January this year, he inaugurated 1,675 flats at Jailorwala Bagh in Ashok Vihar, renamed as Swabhiman Apartments.

Approved in 2009, Kathputli Colony was the first slum rehabilitation project in Delhi. The redevelopment was handed over to Raheja Builders, and the slums were demolished in 2017. Around 2,800 families of puppeteers, magicians, acrobats, and other street performers were moved to makeshift camps in Anand Parbat and Narela and will now be shifting into their new 1BHK homes.

Meanwhile, DDA has also begun the process of hiring an agency to conduct household surveys across JJ clusters of Delhi under the Prime Minister Awas Yojana (PMAY). The survey will cover about 90,000 households in 173 JJ clusters. “DDA intends to create a comprehensive database of JJ dwellers and JJ clusters for rehabilitation. The survey will assess the number of people and households with documents on their status and eligibility for the resettlement/in-situ development programme,” another DDA official said.

He added that the survey will also assess affordability for housing and housing finance and develop indicators for monitoring, evaluation and planning of future rehabilitation.