In 1990, in a crisp November afternoon, in the Mayur Vihar stage, I turned into a mekshift wedding hall in a living room of a minor two-bedroom flat. Neighbors defeated Marigold Garlands across the roof, distributed on the trays borrowed laddus borrowed, and people waited for the film songs to appear for the bride.
The bride, Sunita Kapoor, who now remember the scene that day.
“It was not grand, but it was like small meetings of close friends and families.
The house was proud of his family. His father bought it only for the over in 1981 60,000 produced by Delhi Development Authority (DDA), four years later. Since then, it has exceeded a address: it was the background of Sunita’s childhood, her marriage and her children’s “granny’s home”.
Kapoor said, “This house has seen every version of me – daughter, bride, mother, and now someone is starting. I also live in many other houses, but do not match anything,” Kapoor said.
Across Delhi, thousands of families have similar stories in the same flats.
In the late 1970s and 1980s, the flats created by the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) symbolized a new promise for middle class Indians: the first wave of cheap, employed housing in a city which was only starting its population growth. But after half a century, these buildings – once the basis of Delhi’s residence story – is collapsing under the weight of time.
The paint has become dull, the stairs are torn, the drains have been closed, and penetrated into the moist walls. Windows stick to rusty hinges, and pipe leakage in brown streak. Sapna is now blindly decaying.
On 12 June, HT reported that a government-industry task force recommended that all DDA colonies above the age of 50-it covers at least 30 neighborhoods-may require reconstruction to ensure security. Thousands of families can be displaced, if temporarily. Not everyone is confident.
How DDA defines Delhi again
When the DDA was created in 1957, Delhi was still living in the shadow of partition.
The refugee colonies dominated the large swath of the city, and the lack of housing was intense. The first master plan prepared in 1962 promised rational, affordable development.
While the first DDA colonies rose in the city in the late 60s, it was not the beginning of the 80s-especially for the 1982 Asian Games-DDA colonies were synonymous with the modern look, Delhi was hugging quickly: Delhi was hugging: Mosaic-tile interiors, narrow staircase and small balcony with small balcony.
These houses were not architectural miracles, they were never to happen. But they were skilled and modern.
In the early 1980s, Delhi was a city that was increasingly embracing a modern metropolitan form – along with the first flyover, stadiums such as Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium and Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium, Wide Boleward, Color Television, and Maruti 800, for two years, for two years, for two years.
And along with those people, in DDA’s collective housing colonies, first Mayur Vihar, Saket, Sheikh Sarai and Vasant Kunj and later across the city.
A conservation architect, Bhavan Dandona said that stylistic, the DDA introduced a language that was modern, but simple and functional – one which later became synonymous with the middle class of Delhi.
“It lacked major decorations, but was not rare. The DDA used a variety of innovative standardized, modular, massively produced materials and techniques. Pref Laws manufactured by Hindustan Housing Factory in Delhi were often used,” he said.
For families going to those flats, the city was being reinstated in the rich vision of the growing India.
At Chandni Chowk in Old Delhi, 94 -year -old Azizuddin still lives in Dujana House, one of the first complexes of DDA, was built in 1969. Each has four blocks of 20 flats now uprooted-the walls, missing ladder railings, and pieces of plaster lying on the ground.
“We are fine with repair until we are not being asked to leave. There is no place to go to us. I have been living here for more than 50 years now. The DDA should fix the building, pipe, drainage and similarly, but if they decide to demolish the entire building and build more houses then where will we go?”
The DDA flats were modest, but they did ambition. And on the way, he deposited stories.
Part of city learning
Today, they catch unwavering stories from Delhi’s heritage as a springboard for flat dreams running so far. And in these flats, there are lies that have become folk songs, almost urban legends for the city.
For example, there is a story of Shah Rukh Khan in the DDA Colony in Safdarjung Development Area (SDA). C7 was the home of a young Khan once in a flat 223 in Naveen Niketan Flats.
54 -year -old Amrendra George lived on the floor under the mine through the 1970s and 1980s. “Whenever he returned late, he would climb on the drainpipe and enter the window. There are many fond memories, in which he used to play cricket and football every day outside these flats. He once dropped me in school in his chocolate colored Fiat.”
Khan returned to home late at night in 2017. “He left a note, stating that he was here, but did not want to bother anyone, and he was simply showing his children his childhood home,” said George, whose family has been held on the note, as well as inviting Khan’s wedding card.
And like the ambitions of one of the country’s largest film stars – so the demand for these houses has increased. A three -room set sold in SDA 28,000 in the late 1960s; Today, it moves upwards 2.5 crores.
George said, “Due to pre-made structure, you cannot even run a nail in the wall without a special carpenter,” George said that problems are less, but will help in infrastructural upgrades. “People need clarity from DDA – what they plan to do with these old flats.”
Rust and Grim
Physical decay, however, is undisputed.
In South, Central and West Delhi, the DDA flats were built before 1975 and included a residential block which was once placed in a sterilization camp during the Emergency; And one where the British-era was known as Rai Bahadurus lived as Rai Bahadurus. But the one who binds them today is clearly, a rapid infrastructure.
For example, take Dujana House in Chandni Chowk – four similar blocks of each 20 apartments. When HT visited the complex, the ladder railings were missing in two blocks, the walls were moist around, and the plaster was collapsing.
Residents still recall sterilization drives during the Emergency. “The officers will knock at the door and ask the wives to bring their husbands down to the male sterilization,” Azizuddin quietly said. Buildings carry marks of political past not only memories, but Delhi’s political past.
In Zankpuri, West Delhi, block the C4A manufactured in 1971 – a lack of parking, blocking drains, and the agreed. Sanjay Sachdeva, head of the Residents Association, said, “We still use the same underground tank and booster pumps manufactured 50 years ago.” “The water is not clean, the drains are full, and we worry about every monsoon. But there is still no clarity on the upgrade, if we get anyone.”
In Bhima Nagari in South Delhi, once made for war widows and service families, Moss has captured the walls. “This is a small, green, close-sore colony. We ourselves have retained the park,” said RWA Secretary Sundip Bahl. “But the DDA should repair us without uprooting. It’s not just a colony – this is our identity.”
New redevelopment push promises safety and modern features, but many residents hesitate.
“Where will we go when they rebuild?” Asked Reyage Khan, who lives in Dujana House. “My father sold jewelery to buy this flat. We have not seen any government repair for decades. Why should we trust them now?”
Others are afraid of losing their communities. Bahl of Bhima Nagari said, “They are small, close.” “Neighbors know each other, children play together, shops at the bottom are part of life. In private builder societies, you don’t even know who lives at the next door.”
Photographer Parthiv Shah, who has been living in the DDA flat for two decades, resonated Bhavna. “Kiran’s shop downwards, Sabajiwala who comes every evening, neighbors who know when you are away- it makes sense that it is rare. In the towers in Gurugram, you get facilities but not a community.”
Delhi’s DDA colonies are not only aging. All over India, after independence, from the Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority in the public housing-Mumbai, or from Mahda, Flats, Kolkata’s official quarter-similar dilemmas. They were quickly built, cheaply, for a growing middle class. Some were designed to last for a century – or with that foresight, very least.
Former Town Planner AK Jain, who was part of the DDA between 1976 and 2009, and served as DDA Commissioner (Plan) between 2003 and 2009, said the pre-made flats were a bold experiment at that time, but was later dropped due to high cost. He said, “We later moved towards traditional RCC construction. After this wave, areas such as Saket, Vasant Kunj and Alakananda were planned to be more cost -effective, but also huge,” he said.
Results: On decades, pipes are leaking, pavements are encroached, parking wars are common and repair patchwork, often by residents themselves. And yet, they destroyed the outright risks by eradicating the social taunts of them.
Experts say that a middle path may be possible: strengthening structures, upgrading utilities, and adding lifts without mass demolition.
Dandona said today, even though some flats appeared dated and needed maintenance, DDA’s housing remained a cultural event for Delhi. He said, “They are the identities of the modernity of the late 20th century of Delhi, who embodies the ambitions of the people. More than the residences, they represent a shared heritage of the change of the city, the rich repository of memory and a reminder of a reminder of a reminder of memory, everyday architecture can be a permanent part of a city legacy,” said they said.
No houses, no buildings
For millions of people like Sunita Kapoor, discussion about reconstruction is more than just policy. It is about identity.
She lives in the house with her two daughters and her mother. Three generations under one roof – a DDA ceiling.
He said, “My parents spent their lives here. I was married here. Although my daughters are getting the taste of DDA life, but they have missed the best years here.”
