Delhi: Six hurt after under-construction mall collapses in Chandni Chowk

The mishap took place around 3am in the morning but came to the notice of authorities after almost seven hours

Six labourers were injured and at least one was feared trapped after a shopping mall construction site at Chandni Chowk collapsed on Sunday morning. At least five temporary shelters on the ground and a portion of the peripheral walls around the construction site are also said to have collapsed, said officials aware of the matter.

Teams from the fire department and the local police carried out search and rescue operations, along with the labourers, at the construction site till late Sunday evening. (Sanchit Khanna/HT photo)

The mishap took place around 3am in the morning but it came to the notice of authorities after almost seven hours. Nobody from the agency handling the construction of the shopping mall named Omaxe Chandi Chowk informed about the incident to any of the authorities till 10:30am, said officials.

Omaxe could not be reached for a comment on the incident or over the delay in informing authorities about the mishap.

Teams from the fire department and the local police carried out search and rescue operations, along with the labourers, at the construction site till late evening. Though scores of workers are involved in the search operations, senior officials from the fire department said removing the collapsed structures and the huge quantities of soil may take at least one more day.

Chief of Delhi Fire Services (DFS) Atul Garg said the fire control room received a call at 10:55am about a house collapse at the under construction Omaxe shopping mall, opposite Gurdwara Sis Ganj Sahib, and near Kotwali police station.

“Four to five fire tenders were immediately rushed to the spot. One person is suspected to be trapped under the debris as per accounts of eyewitnesses. Our search and rescue operation is on,” said Garg.

Assistant divisional officer (DFS) Rajesh Shukla said several temporary sheds were erected along the underground periphery of the construction site. Due to the cave in, the concrete flooring as well as some five sheds inside which labourers were sleeping and a portion of the concrete periphery walls crumbled. Some iron structures and metal sheets erected around the site also collapsed.

“By the time we reached there, at least six injured labourers were rescued and taken to a hospital. All of them sustained minor injuries and were discharged. According to the labourers present there, one person is still missing. He is feared to be trapped under the debris,” said Shukla.

Police said the construction site was earlier used as an authorised parking space. The parking lot was dismantled and construction work for the mall was going on for the past few months.

“We are still verifying what exactly happened and what all collapsed. Further details will be shared in due course,” said deputy commissioner of police (north) Sagar Singh Kalsi.

A senior municipal official from North Delhi Municipal Corporation said the mishap occurred as wet soil along the underground section of the construction site crumbled. “There is provision for a three-storey underground section in this project. The soil along the retention wall became loose due to the monsoon rains, that led to the collapse of the retention wall. A few people are injured and no deaths have occurred as per reports from field officials. We are looking into the matter,” said the official.

Leader of the house in the north municipality Chhail Bihari Goswami said that he was not aware of the details of the accident and said it may have been a minor mishap.

The shopping mall-cum-multi level parking facility is being developed over a 4.5-acre area. Once the project is completed, the multi-level parking facility, previously known as Gandhi Maidan parking, is expected to accommodate close to 2,100 cars and 81 tourist buses

The facility is part of the Chandi Chowk redevelopment project. It is being monitored by Shahjahanabad Redevelopment Corporation (SRDC) and executed by the north municipality. SRDC officials did not comment.