Delhi: South civic body says building that collapsed was ‘unsafe’

SDMC mayor Mukesh Suryan, who visited the spot, said the corporation had issued a notice to the building owner on March 21, and the police was requested to stop the work.

The South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC) on Monday said that the four-storey building in South Delhi’s Satya Niketan which collapsed on Monday afternoon, trapping six labourers and killing two, was last month marked for illegal alterations to the structure, and added that it had informed the police and the district administration about it.

Rescue personnel clearing debris from the collapse site in Delhi's Satya Niketan. (Twitter/ANI)

SDMC mayor Mukesh Suryan, who visited the spot, said the corporation had issued a notice to the building owner on March 21, and the police was requested to stop the work.

According to an official statement, SDMC said field staff was rushed to the site as soon as they were informed about the collapse. “The owner was carrying out additional alteration work when it collapsed. The structure was around 25 years old,” the SDMC spokesperson said.

According to the statement, the owner was issued a notice under the DMC Act, 1957 for carrying out alterations, on March 31, 2022 and police were asked on April 11 to stop the work.

A senior police officer said they were looking if SDMC communicated to the police regarding the matter, but added that the civic agency should have checked whether the construction work was underway despite their objections. “Police’s job is prevention of crime. Checking illegal construction is invariably the responsibility of the municipal corporation. The department should have followed up whether the construction work was going on after they had informed the concerned persons,” the officer said.

A senior municipal corporation official said while the area is officially marked as a ‘resettlement colony’ which was developed around 50 years ago when people from Moti Bagh JJ cluster shifted here, the owners started illegal additions and alterations to make space for additional rooms to rent them out to students because of the area’s proximity to Delhi University’s South Campus. “...free hold rights were provided in 2011 leading to unbridled construction,” the official said.

“The first notice to the building was issued immediately... and a second notice is issued after three days after which communications are sent to various departments for further action,” official stated. The civic body then wrote a letter on April 11, 2022 -- HT has seen a copy -- to the SHO of Police Station South Campus Sector 12 RK Puram, asking their help to stop work.

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