Homes for judicial employees in Dwarka demolished before allotment: Delhi finance panel defers proposal for reconstruction

The Indian Express on March 18 last year had reported about the demolition of the flats even before the allotment.

The PWD moved the proposal in April to reconstruct the flats for judicial officers on the same land where 70 flats were constructed but demolished last year.

The proposal was then sent to the EFC for approval. However, the panel raised several questions and also observed that the PWD had not incorporated the actual causes of the dilapidation of the units.

“These facts were required to be presented before the Committee in order to ensure that the same lapses are not repeated in the proposed project. PWD was directed to incorporate the same, in detail, in its revised proposal,” said an official.

The work on the units was awarded in 2014, and the deadline was set for February 2017. However, the first contract was rescinded in 2018 after Rs 30 crore had been spent out of the total estimated cost of Rs 48 crore. As the structure remained incomplete, the department issued a tender for the project again and paid approximately Rs 2.5 crore to a second contractor, who later abandoned the work, reporting that the building seemed “unstable” and was developing “cracks.”
In the following years, three different institutions — CBRI, Roorkee (2021), CPWD (2022), and IIT-Delhi (2023) — were consulted, and they submitted their reports to the PWD in November 2023. After reviewing these, the PWD found that the condition of the buildings deteriorated due to a lack of basic maintenance, such as plastering and painting of external reinforced cement concrete for protection against corrosion, said officials.

“The visual observations and test reports showed that the reinforcement in concrete is suffering from chloride-induced corrosion. In the experience of consultants, irrespective of the test method, such a high value of chloride content inevitably leads to corrosion of reinforcement within a relatively short duration,” added the official.

In its latest proposal, PWD also highlighted the plan to construct two basements and a substation, along with external development work for judicial officers, as per the design finalised by the Committee of Judges, on a site measuring 10,001.12 sqm.

The land was allotted by the DDA. Meanwhile, Principal Secretary (Law) has informed the panel the matter is being monitored by a court. Sources said PWD Minister Parvesh Sahib Singh has sought a report on the matter.

Meanwhile, the EFC also raised questions over the cost escalation for the extension of the Ashram flyover due to a lack of approval and NOC (no objection certificate) from traffic authorities and failure to remove unauthorised encroachments.
“The project was inaugurated in the year 2023… The department did not submit the revised project estimates or inform that they had noticed an encroachment on the land before floating tenders and starting the work… Almost after a gap of two years, PWD has come up to the Expenditure Finance Committee for approval and sanction in the year 2025, resulting in time and cost overrun and loss to the government exchequer,” the official underlined.

The Central panel has directed the PWD to come up with a detailed report mentioning the time when the encroachment was noticed by PWD (i.e., 02/05/2005)—before initiation of the project, before floating the tender document, or after invitation of bids—along with a thorough inquiry against the erring officers for the loss to the government exchequer. A detailed justification is also required for the delay in submitting the proposal to the Competent Authority and for the cost escalation.