Can go ahead with lifts in DDA flats, L-G told

STRUCTURAL SAFETY DID NOT HAVE MUCH TO DO WITH ILLEGAL CONSTRUCTION, DDA HAS TOLD THE L-G

NEW DELHI: Residents of Delhi Development Authority (DDA) flats should be allowed to install lifts in their residential blocks, provided structural safety is not compromised, DDA officials have told the L-G.

Replying to a letter written by the L-G asking DDA to review its policy on lifts and to not allow installation of lifts in blocks that have illegal constructions, the authority has said that structural safety did not have much to do with illegal construction.

“We have replied to the letter explaining how almost all DDA apartment complexes have illegal construction. If we take this as the criterion, then no lift will be installed in any apartment complex. Having illegal construction does not necessarily mean that the building has been weakened and a lift cannot be installed. In any case, the lift will be set up as a separate section,” said a DDA official.

DDA’s lift policy has seen four revisions and modifications already. An earlier clause said that the consent of ground floor residents was mandatory to get lifts installed.

According to residents who live in upper floors, the ground floor residents would hardly ever agree as they did not get any benefit from the lift.

The previous lift policy, revised in September last year, changed this clause and stated that the consent of ground floor residents was not mandatory for installing a lift.

According to the latest policy, which is currently in abeyance, the consent of at least 50% of a block’s residents is required to install a lift.