Buildings collapsing despite safety audits, Delhi govt depts collecting bribes: AAP

Buildings collapsing despite safety audits, Delhi govt depts collecting bribes: AAP

New Delhi, The Aam Aadmi Party on Thursday said that despite multiple safety audits, buildings keep collapsing in Delhi, and alleged that multiple departments under Chief Minister Rekha Gupta's government and the MCD are "collecting bribes".

Buildings collapsing despite safety audits, Delhi govt depts collecting bribes: AAP

A three-storey building under construction collapsed in Old Delhi's Chawri Bazaar on Thursday, killing two people, injuring four and trapping several under the debris, police said.

A Delhi unit president Saurabh Bharadwaj asked why building collapses happen "every month".

"Another three-storey building collapses at Chawri Bazaar/Chandni Chowk. Many feared trapped under debris. Rekha Gupta's government and MCD conducted multiple safety audits of all buildings in Delhi, yet buildings keep collapsing. Why?" Bharadwaj said in a post on X.

"Safety audits have been ordered repeatedly, but instead of real action, multiple departments collected bribes many times, which is why buildings collapse every month," he added.

"Earlier, only Delhi Police and MCD took bribes. After Rekha Gupta's government, the Fire Department and SDMs also started collecting bribes from buildings," Bharadwaj further said.

"The plot on which the three-storey building collapsed measured 50 square metres. No building plan had been sanctioned for the structure, and no complaints regarding the construction had been received by the civic body," an official said.

The MCD said the building was under construction, but work had been halted around 15 days ago.

Workers were in the process of removing the support system beneath the roof when the collapse occurred. The material used in the construction was non-engineered and had not set properly, which may have contributed to the collapse, officials added.

Following the collapse, the MCD suspended two officials, an assistant engineer and a junior engineer.

Chief Minister Gupta has ordered an inquiry into the collapse and directed the registration of an FIR against the contractor.

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