New Delhi: The ageing, crumbling government flats in the DIZ Area (Mandir Marg), a sub-locality in the heart of Lutyens’ Delhi, along with the tarnished buildings of Andrews Ganj locality in South Delhi, are set to be replaced by commercial centres, high-end apartments, and residences for senior government officials, ThePrint has learnt.
Around 3,000 flats will be built here for government employees, besides the construction of 400 high-end apartments, marking a seismic shift.
NBCC (India), a public sector undertaking under the Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA), is in the process of appointing consultants for the two projects to prepare the detailed plan, according to sources in the central government.
Last month, the PSU invited separate bids for the appointment of consultants to provide “architectural and engineering consultancy services” including site development for redevelopment of these two colonies. The two projects will be implemented on half of the existing area of the two colonies, sources in the central government told ThePrint.
The redevelopment projects of DIZ Area and Andrews Ganj will cost around Rs 2,697 crore and Rs 2,456 crore, respectively, according to tender documents which ThePrint has seen.
The consultancy fees for DIZ Area and Andrews Ganj are Rs 13.48 crore and Rs 12.28 crore, respectively.
The two projects will be developed on the lines of 7GPRA (redevelopment of seven General Pool Residential Accommodation colonies in New Delhi approved by the Centre) and East Kidwai Nagar (project was meant to house central government officials) redevelopment models where the projects’ cost will be recovered by selling the commercial components, sources in the central government told ThePrint.
The DIZ Area and Andrews Ganj redevelopment projects are part of the Narendra Modi-led government’s plan to redevelop existing government residential colonies to meet housing requirements for its employees.
In 2016, the Centre had approved the redevelopment of seven GPRA colonies located in south Delhi—Sarojini Nagar, Nauroji Nagar, Kasturba Nagar, Netaji Nagar, Srinivaspuri, Mohammadpur and Thyagraj Nagar, as part of the 7GPRA project. This is being implemented by the NBCC and the Central Public Works Department (CPWD).
Prior to this, the NBCC redeveloped East Kidwai Nagar in 2018 to provide housing for government officials.
While work on 7GPRA is ongoing, the housing ministry last year initiated the process to plan the redevelopment of five more government colonies—DIZ Area (Lutyens’ Delhi), Andrews Ganj and Pushp Vihar (South Delhi), Timarpur (North Delhi) and Lodhi Colony (Lodhi Road).
“It has been decided to begin redevelopment of the DIZ Area and Andrews Ganj first. At the DIZ Area, there are over 3,000 houses, but not all are in bad condition. A survey was done to identify existing housing stock which is in a dilapidated condition. At Andrews Ganj, almost all flats will be razed,” a senior central government told ThePrint.
ThePrint reached the ministry and the NBCC for comments. This report will be updated if and when a response is received.
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High-rise in Lutyens’ Delhi & South Delhi
Spread over 68 acres of prime land in the heart of the city, the DIZ Area is one of the oldest government residential colonies in New Delhi, according to CPWD officials. The colony has a large number of type 1 and type 2 houses (mostly two or three-storeyed apartments) for junior-level government employees.
At the DIZ Area, the plan is to redevelop nearly 31.6 acres of the existing area to construct 1,472 type 5 flats (for senior officials), a transit hostel facility, a commercial centre and 184 residential units (4-bedroom flats) by razing 1,392 existing dwelling units, according to the bid document.
At Andrews Ganj, the proposed redevelopment is expected to be done on 31 acres (of a total of 66 acres) of land to provide 1,079 type 5 flats along with a commercial centre and 156 residential units (4-bedroom flats). For this, the existing 1,232 flats (mostly type 1, 3 and 5) will be demolished, according to the bid document.
The commercial spaces and high-end flats at Andrews Ganj and the DIZ Area will be sold to recover the cost of the projects, the bid document said.
According to the tender document, the scope of work includes “providing comprehensive design and engineering consultancy services for redevelopment, including master planning of government colony” at the DIZ Area and Andrews Ganj.
The consultants also have to prepare operation and comprehensive maintenance manuals for these multi-storey residential and commercial complexes.
Redevelopment of more govt colonies
Last year, the housing ministry tasked the NBCC with carrying out a survey of dilapidated flats in the five additional GPRA colonies and preparing a redevelopment plan.
The government residential colonies located at the DIZ Area, Andrews Ganj and Pushp Vihar (South Delhi), Timarpur (North Delhi) and Lodhi Colony (Lodhi Road) have close to 6,000 flats. The total area available for redevelopment in these five GPRA colonies is around 130-140 acres.
“These colonies were developed more than four decades ago and have a large number of housing units, mostly type 1, lying in a deteriorated condition. We plan to raze these flats, which are mostly vacant, and redevelop the area to meet the housing requirements. The NBCC has identified close to 12,000 such flats in these five colonies. So far, no final decision has been taken on these plans,” a senior official had told ThePrint last August.
Unlike the 7GPRA project where all existing 12,000-plus flats were demolished to construct around 18,000 new flats, sources said, only flats which are in bad condition will be redeveloped in these five colonies.
(Edited by Radifah Kabir)