4-storey building collapses in north Delhi, none injured

The building had been declared ‘dangerous’ by the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) in May after it developed cracks.

A four-storey building in north Delhi’s Shastri Nagar collapsed on Monday morning, police said, adding that no casualties have been reported in the mishaps.

A video grab of the building collapsing on Monday morning. (Screenshot)

According to the owner of the building and the police, the building had been declared ‘dangerous’ by the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) in May after it developed cracks, and was subsequently vacated.

Sagar Singh Kalsi, deputy commissioner of police (north), said police received a call informing about the collapse of building number E-2/201 at 8.45am.

“The building, owned by Balraj Arora, developed cracks in May, allegedly after Vinod Kumar, the owner of the adjoining building (E-2/200) started digging the foundation. The matter was reported to police by both Arora and Kumar, and their complaints were mentioned in the daily diary. The owners also apprised the municipal agency in this connection on May 26 to take necessary action. The building was declared ‘dangerous’ by the MCD engineers and was immediately vacated,” Kalsi said.

Arora alleged that his building developed cracks as Kumar, his neighbour, did not follow construction norms and dug into the foundation more than the permissible limits, and claimed that the MCD officials who inspected the site of not probing the matter properly.

“When I reported the matter to the MCD, the officials declared my building ‘dangerous’. Since the MCD officials didn’t probe the matter properly, I approached court against the MCD orders, which directed the agency to get a report from an independent structural engineer. The next date of hearing was to be December 14 and February 14, 2023 in two different courts. As we had vacated our building after MCD’s orders, no loss of life has occurred in the incident,” he said.

Kumar hit back, claiming that Arora’s building collapsed due to negligence. “Instead of strengthening the foundation before raising the number of floors, the owner just kept laying bricks to make easy money. I am ready for any probe to prove my fault,” he said.

When contacted, a senior MCD officer, on condition of anonymity, said, “A thorough investigation will be done and stern action will be taken against the culprits.”