Reddy prefers Emaar bank guarantee to litigation?

NEW DELHI: The urban development ministry plans to press developer Emaar-MGF to set right defects and plan violations in the Games Village project and will not to relent on its decision to invoke the builder’s bank guarantee of Rs 183 crore.

With a blame game playing out between the government and Emaar-MGF, the urban development ministry has directed DDA to stay focused on deficiencies that have come to light with regard to construction at the Games Village. DDA will pursue the builder for no-ndelivery or poor delivery.

Urban development minister Jaipal Reddy told ToI that the decision to freeze or confiscate the bank guarantee as not unwarranted. “I think we are determined to act on the bank guarantee as terms of delivery and construction have been violated. If we litigate, the matter will drag on. DDA has acted in the most effective way it can,” Reddy said.

As details of the Games Village project become available it is becoming clear it was not just a failure of housekeeping that resulted in filthy and unlivable conditions. The state of the apartments was so shoddy that cement and mud was caked solid and repeated cleaning was needed due to a persistent and prolonged monsoon.

Even bathroom windows were coated with cement. The monsoon also exposed bad planning and water flowed in from balconies and lack of waterproofing led to seepage in basements. The Village was to be handed over by builder by June 30 but work continued into Aug and cleaning efforts proceeded simultaneously.