MCD cuts water, power supply at Signature View Apartments as deadline to vacate ends

New Delhi: The Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) has disconnected electricity and water services to the Signature View Apartments in North Delhi’s Mukherjee Nagar after the expiry of the court-ordered deadline for evacuation. Despite the action, around 51 residents continue to live in the structurally unsafe complex, officials said on Monday.

The housing project, developed by the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) between 2007 and 2009 and allotted by 2011-12, has been declared unsafe following years of severe structural decay. Cracks in the walls, ceilings, and pillars have raised major safety concerns, prompting the courts to intervene.

“We are urging the remaining residents to vacate the premises at the earliest,” said Amrendra Singh Rakesh, President of the Residents Welfare Association (RWA). He added that many families are struggling to arrange alternative housing after losing access to essential utilities.

An MCD official confirmed that the disconnection was carried out jointly with DDA following the Supreme Court’s refusal last week to grant an extension to the residents.

“Electricity and water supply have been disconnected as per the court’s directions,” the official said.

In December 2024, the Delhi High Court had ordered the DDA to ensure that all flats were vacated within three months, with rent assistance to be provided immediately. As part of the rehabilitation plan, the DDA is offering monthly rent compensation of Rs.50,000 for high-income group (HIG) flat owners and Rs.38,000 for middle-income group (MIG) owners from January 1, 2025, or from the date of actual vacation until reconstruction is completed.

The complex comprises 12 towers with 336 flats and was declared “structurally unsafe” by an IIT-Delhi study in 2022. In response, Lieutenant Governor V.K. Saxena directed the DDA in 2023 to redevelop the property and rehouse existing owners.

Although the DDA floated a tender in March 2025 for demolition and reconstruction, officials say there has been “no update” on the demolition timeline so far.

With the Supreme Court declining to stay the demolition last week, authorities have intensified efforts to evacuate the remaining residents, marking the final phase before the decades-old complex is razed for redevelopment.