New Delhi: The Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) has started checking and removing unsafe buildings in and around Satya Niketan locality after seven people died when a building being used as a paying guest (PG) accommodation collapsed on Sunday (September 6). Rescue teams pulled 12 people from the debris. Seven of them died, while five others were injured.
The Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) said on Tuesday (September 8) that the MCD had been ordered to demolish the dilapidated building near the accident site in the interest of public safety. The PG owner, Kapil, said 13 students live there. Because it is a girls’ PG, she said entry cannot be allowed.
“On Chief Minister Rekha Gupta’s directions, the MCD has been ordered to demolish the dilapidated building near the accident site in the interest of public safety,” the CMO said in a post on X. The civic action begun after Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta ordered the demolition of a dilapidated building next to the collapsed PG. MCD teams have since started taking action against buildings considered unsafe in the area. The Delhi Fire Service is also taking out the belongings of students from the building in a safe and organised manner. Students and local residents have been asked to cooperate with the officials carrying out the operation. The action at Satya Niketan has been accompanied by inspections of PG accommodations in other parts of the national capital. The Delhi High Court has directed authorities to inspect PG hostels within a week and prepare detailed records. The exercise covers building approvals, violations of rules, fire safety arrangements and the number of students living in each property. MCD teams have started surveys in different parts of the capital as part of that exercise. Teams visited Vishwas Nagar, an area where many students from the Indraprastha University and the Delhi Technological University’s East Campus live. Around five PGs have been surveyed in Vishwas Nagar so far. Officials checked the structures and looked at safety arrangements during their visits. At MS Rental in Ram Gali, officials found a building with three floors above the parking and ground-floor levels. Each floor has three to four rooms. During the inspection, officials found that the staircase beside the lift was only around one-and-a-half feet wide. Students living at the property described the PG as safe, while the Satya Niketan collapse has left them worried about building safety. The inspection drive comes after the MCD suspended five officials responsible for checking illegal construction in the colony near Delhi University’s South Campus in Dhaula Kuan.
A DTU student said he pays Rs 10,000 for a non-AC room, excluding food. Another student, who too pays Rs 10,000, said the Satya Niketan incident has made him worried. He also referred to PGs in areas such as Jhilmil, where students can face poor facilities and electricity charges of Rs 10-12 per unit. He said his PG charges Rs 8 per unit and added the government should also pay attention to cleanliness outside the buildings. The caretaker said the four-storey PG has between 15 and 20 rooms. She said accommodation and food cost between Rs 10,000 and Rs 12,000, with two girls staying in each room. Around 15 students are presently staying there as others have gone home.
A similar situation was reported at a girls’ PG in Patel Nagar Gali.
The building has stairs that can be used to leave during an emergency and other arrangements appear to be safe, according to him. He said the government should act before such incidents happen. He described his own PG as safe and said the owner cooperates with students. She said the PG has been operating for three years and has adequate safety arrangements.
MCD officials faced restrictions while inspecting some other properties in Vishwas Nagar. At a girls’ PG in Bagichi Gali, the caretaker did not allow the officials inside, citing the safety of the women staying there. Officials were not allowed inside the premises and assessed the building’s structure from outside before preparing their survey report.
