October 3, 2023: In January 2023, Lieutenant-General (LG) VK Saxena had ordered the Signature View Apartments (SVA) towers in Delhi’s Mukherjee Nagar to be demolished and reconstructed after an IIT-Delhi building deemed the buildings structurally weak. The Delhi Development Authority (DDA) in New Delhi has asked residents of Signature View Apartments to evacuate the premises by November 30, 2023, following which the buildings will be demolished.
During the last week of September 2023, the DDA had offered the final agreement to the residents, who had been given time till October 15, 2023, to sign the documents. After this, the residents will get 45 days to evacuate, according to the agreement. The agreement also says that, after November 30, the DDA will withdraw all services such as electrical and maintenance. The DDA plans to evacuate, dismantle and rebuild the towers within three years on the agreement being signed.
The SVA has 336 flats, nearly all of which were occupied. There are a total of 12 towers in the SVA premises. The DDA has offered two options to SVA residents- buy back and reconstruction. For residents who have opted for reconstruction, the DDA has offered to pay rent for the next three years. For others, the DDA will pay the cost of the flat at 10.6% interest rate and stamp duty.
The DDA officials had decided on September 20, 2023, that the most feasible way of demolishing the Signature View towers is through a controlled implosion. The choice of demolition method is influenced by a variety of factors, however, a precedent was set when Supertech’s Twin Towers in Noida were demolished using a controlled implosion in 2022.
