Ex-DDA officials, pvt contractors booked for shoddy construction of Delhi apartment complex: CBI

New Delhi, Sep 17 (PTI) The CBI has lodged an FIR against 28 retired DDA officials and two private contractors for allegedly compromising the quality and structural safety in the construction of Signature View Apartments in Delhi, officials said.

Two testing agencies -- Bharat Test House and Delhi Test House -- have also been named in the FIR, along with contractors Winner Construction Private Limited and Grover Construction Private Limited and the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) officials responsible for building the apartment complex in Mukherjee Nagar with 336 HIG and MIG flats in 2007-09, they said.

"It is alleged ... that accused public servants of DDA in conspiracy with the directors of the companies ... bypased the quality control ... in the contract and the CPWD manual, compromised the quality and structural safety requirements during the construction," the FIR alleges.

It says that due to sub-standard construction and inferior quality of materials, the buildings were declared unsafe for living within 10 years of their construction, causing a wrongful loss of Rs 45 crore to the DDA and wrongful gain to the erring officials.

Allotted to residents in 2011-2012, construction-related issues had cropped up in the buildings, forcing them to approach the DDA.

A 2021-2022 study conducted by the IIT-Delhi at the behest of the DDA found the buildings structurally unsafe.

The study had also recommended that the buildings be vacated and dismantled immediately.

In January 2023, Lieutenant Governor V K Saxena ordered the "immediate initiation of criminal proceedings against the contractors/builders/construction agencies and a vigilance inquiry to identify all DDA officials responsible for lapses/misconduct in the construction of the said buildings and subsequent criminal action against the defaulting officials".

He had referred the matter to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

Among the former DDA officials booked by the agency, one had retired as the chief engineer, eight as superintending engineers, seven as executive engineers, 11 as assistant engineers and one as junior engineer.

The vigilance enquiry conducted by the Delhi government had found that the concrete in the structures was, at most locations, of a lower grade than that expected.

Despite several repairs of the buildings, the structural stability continued to fail to an extent that an independent expert had suggested immediate evacuation, the government had found and referred the matter to the CBI, which has now registered the FIR.

"It was the duty of the contractor and all the concerned officers to ensure that prescribed norms of quality control and terms and conditions of the agreement are followed. It appears that either the officers had failed to point out the deficiencies during the construction or effectively colluded with the agency to compromise the quality and provide wrongful gains to the agency," the vigilance report had noted. PTI ABS RC