Traffic jam in DDA’s flat race

Though DDA has constantly denied that the high number of forms sold does not reflect a drastic shortage in the Capital’s housing sector, the scene at the DDA headquarters, where results of its latest housing scheme were announced, certainly point to that direction.

As the draw of lots was in progress in the crowded conference hall, applicants thronged the building and began raising question about the authenticity of the process even before the results were announced. “If the draw is as fair a process as they claim it is, why all the secrecy? Why are they insisting on conducting the draw behind closed doors?” an extremely agitated applicant asked.

The answer came from DDA’s director of public relations Neemo Dhar: lack of space, which prevented the draw from being an entirely public affair. “Over 5 lakh people have applied for the scheme,” she said. “We cannot possibly accommodate all of them in one hall and hence the draw was closed to members of the public.

“Yet, the media had access to it, as did the neutral judges.”

The draw was conducted in the presence of “neutral judges” — Prof S N Maheshwari of IIT-Delhi; Arun Kumar Jha, Director, Ministry of Micro Small and Medium Enterprises; Uday Shanker, Director (Finance), Ministry of Environment and Forest; and Shivani Singh, journalist.

Once the “lucky applicant number” had been picked by the judges, the draw procedure took less than half an hour. In all, 5238 flats were allotted to individuals randomly picked from a list that included 5,66,906 names. The DDA made provisions for an LCD screen in the auction hall to relay the entire process to the milling crowds outside.

But that also proved to be too small to help all the people who wanted to see the process for themselves.

The Authority announced that the entire list of allottees would be published in leading newspapers tomorrow. “We will send out the demand letters to the selected allottees by December 30 and they will have 60 days to make payment on their houses after that,” Dhar said. “We will also refund deposits of those who have not been selected by December 30.”

The DDA posted the results on its website within an hour of the draw but the site was down for most of the day due to the endless traffic.

Oye lucky!
With the odds standing at 100 to 1 for a flat in DDA’s 2008 housing scheme, post-result mood outside Vikas Sadan can hardly be jubilant. Here’s catching three lucky ones:

Sunil Sharma, 32, can hardly believe his luck. A tenant in Palam, Sharma is overjoyed: as if finding his name in the list of allottees is not enough, he finds allotment in upscale Vasant Kunj. The Reliance employee is certain he would never have been able to buy a house there had it not been for the DDA housing scheme. “The news is yet to sink in entirely.”

Sushil Khatri, 35, works in the “stamp business”, and had applied for a house under the “physically handicapped” quota — 1 per cent of the flats were reserved for this category and DDA received 5,163 applications. “I live in Palam and I have been allotted a house in Dwarka. I am happy; that was my first option since it does not involve moving too far away from my current location.”

Dayanand Tyagi, 45, is one of the first people to spot his name on the list. An employee with the Education Department, Tyagi lives in Harinagar and has been allotted a house in Dwarka. Too “stunned”, he hurries off home to share the news.