DDA suspends three errant engineers

After Hindustan Times reported the pathetic state of affairs at the Delhi Development Authority's (DDA) flats at Mukherjee Nagar, the housing agency swung into action and suspended three engineers. Sidhartha Roy reports.

After Hindustan Times reported the pathetic state of affairs at the Delhi Development Authority's (DDA) flats at Mukherjee Nagar, the housing agency swung into action and suspended three engineers.

HT Image

The engineers were suspended for the fiasco at its Mukherjee Nagar complex where incomplete flats were sold to allottees.

Dug-up soil, construction material and debris have finally been cleared at the Mukherjee Nagar multi-storey flats complex, and work has begun on a war footing to complete the work on the 336 flats.

A team comprising senior DDA engineers and officials from the agency's vigilance and quality control department visited the site on Saturday morning for an inspection.

"We have asked site engineers to finish the remaining work as early as possible. More labourers and machinery have been deployed at the site," said a senior DDA official who was part of the inspection team. "One assistant engineer and two junior engineers have been suspended for dereliction of duty."

Sources in the land development agency said directions have also come from the lieutenant governor, who is also DDA's chairman, to finish the work and hand over ready to move in flats to the allottees.

The flats, all of which are three-bedroom houses and cost up to R88 lakh, were allotted as part of the 2010 housing scheme. Though the allottees had to pay the whole amount and were given possession in June this year, work on the flats is going on and they are far from livable. As a result, the allottees are paying both the EMIs for their loans and also rent for the houses they are living in at present.

After HT first reported the issue on July 30, DDA's housing department, which allots flats, had asked the engineering department to submit a status report with latest pictures of the site.

On Thursday, DDA's new vice-chairman Sanjay Srivastava had promised that work will be completed as early as possible and action would be taken against those who were responsible for the fiasco.

On Friday, HT had also reported the pathetic condition of the DDA flats at Vasant Kunj.