As a result, real estate company Indiabulls, which was to carry out the project, has written to the DDA seeking refund of Rs 450 crore along with interest.

The letter also asks the company to be allowed to pull out of the project.

In 2006, the DDA had auctioned off 11.8 acres in Tehkhand, an area adjoining the Tughlakabad greens in South Delhi, to a consortium of DLF and Indiabulls real estate for Rs 450 crore. Indiabulls bought out DLF’s stake in the project for an undisclosed amount two years later.

“As per our agreement, the consortium was to seek all statutory clearances before they began work on the project. They got all major clearances but the matter got stuck when the Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC) contested that some parts of the property were technically a part of the ridge,” a senior DDA official explained.

Since then, the matter has escalated into a legal issue with no solution in sight. At the heart of the matter is the issue of the authority to define the ridge. “As per clause 9.2.2 in the Masterplan 2021, till the Forest department identifies the exact boundaries of the ridge, the boundary indicated in the Masterplan shall continue to be regarded as the ridge. As per the Masterplan, the area earmarked for the Tehkhand project does not fall under the ridge.”

The forest department, for its part, has yet to identify the exact boundaries.

Another clause says the DDA will be the final authority on any dispute regarding matters in the Masterplan. “So our contention is that the area does not fall in the ridge,” the official said.

But a recent survey by the Union Environment ministry at the behest of the Delhi High Court said some portions of the area come under the ridge. “The ministry says the area falls in ridge land and before the land was auctioned, its land-use was changed from recreational (district park) to residential,” a senior official in the Environment department said. “In our opinion, that, too, is a contentious subject.

“We believe the court has the final say on this, not the DDA.”

For now, it appears unlikely that the two parties will reach a solution in time to salvage the project. Top officials at the DDA have indicated that Indiabulls request is unlikely to be accepted unless the court explicitly directs the DDA to do so. On the other hand, the Environment department too is adamant that the projects, in their current form, “will never get cleared”. The forest department, for its part, has yet to identify the exact boundaries.

Another clause says the DDA will be the final authority on any dispute regarding matters in the Masterplan. “So our contention is that the area does not fall in the ridge,” the official said.

But a recent survey by the Union Environment ministry at the behest of the Delhi High Court said some portions of the area come under the ridge. “The ministry says the area falls in ridge land and before the land was auctioned, its land-use was changed from recreational (district park) to residential,” a senior official in the Environment department said. “In our opinion, that, too, is a contentious subject.

“We believe the court has the final say on this, not the DDA.”

For now, it appears unlikely that the two parties will reach a solution in time to salvage the project. Top officials at the DDA have indicated that Indiabulls request is unlikely to be accepted unless the court explicitly directs the DDA to do so. On the other hand, the Environment department too is adamant that the projects, in their current form, “will never get cleared”. The project was to include 3,500 flats for the economically weaker sections and 500 premium flats on an adjoining six-hectare plot. Under plans, the flats were to be handed over to the DDA for allotment, while the builders had the right to sell the 500 premium flats to recover costs and make profit from the venture.