Seemapuri building collapse: What magisterial probes found in similar incidents

The inquiries point to a pattern as illegal construction is often visible, complaints are received, buildings are inspected

The building collapse in Delhi’s Seemapuri, which killed at least five people, has once again exposed the gap between rules and their enforcement. The collapse has striking similarities with a string of building fires and collapses in the Capital this year. Magisterial inquiries repeatedly found illegal construction, regulatory failures, ignored warnings and weak emergency preparedness in these cases.

Rescuers at the collapse site in Seemapuri. (HT PHOTO)

HT accessed the magisterial inquiry reports into the Saidulajab building collapse and the fires in Hauz Rani, Palam and Vivek Vihar. All four reports highlighted how multiple agencies had overlooked glaring red flags.

The Seemapuri building, according to the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD), was 20-25 years old and stood on a roughly 25-square-yard plot in a jhuggi-jhopri cluster under the Delhi Urban Shelter Improvement Board. What makes the Seemapuri tragedy particularly troubling is that the warning signs were identified in previous disasters.

Saidulajab building collapse

In Saidulajab, where six people were killed in the collapse of an unauthorised building on May 30, a magisterial inquiry concluded that the disaster was preventable. The building was been “booked” by the MCD for violations, yet meaningful enforcement action had not followed. Police also alerted the civic body in March to verify whether construction, including a fifth floor, was in accordance with the sanctioned plan.

The subsequent inquiry found that MCD officials failed to monitor and crack down on illegal construction, sat on multiple complaints, and failed to enforce building norms. It flagged retrospective inspection records that were allegedly fabricated to mislead investigators.

The report recommended mandatory structural safety audits, risk categorisation of vulnerable buildings, GIS-based mapping and digital monitoring, measures aimed at preventing authorities from merely identifying dangerous structures without acting against them.

Hauz Rani blaze

Four days after Saidulajab, 23 people were killed in the Hauz Rani fire at an illegally expanded bed-and-breakfast. The magisterial inquiry found that the establishment continued operating despite repeated warnings and serious discrepancies in its licensing and inspection records. At least four agencies, the MCD, Delhi Police, the tourism department, and BSES Rajdhani Power Ltd, were found to have contributed to the regulatory failure.

The tragedy exposed another familiar weakness: inspections without sustained follow-up. After the Hauz Rani fire, the government launched a citywide exercise involving district administrations, police, the MCD and the fire service to identify illegal and unsafe buildings. But HT subsequently reported that the inspection drive gradually lost steam after about a month. Officials said district-level teams identified violations but lacked the powers to seal properties themselves, leaving effective enforcement dependent on other agencies.

Vivek Vihar fire

The Vivek Vihar fire was another example of how multiple small failures can turn a fire into a mass-casualty event. Nine people died in the blaze. The magisterial inquiry found that flats had been sold without occupancy certificates and that major structural alterations had been carried out in violation of sanctioned plans. Restricted escape routes, a locked terrace, inadequate ventilation, congested approach lanes and other fire-safety deficiencies aggravated the tragedy. The first fire tender’s water supply also ran dry within minutes.

Palam fire

The March 18 Palam fire, which killed nine people, exposed shortcomings not just in the building but in the emergency response system. A Delhi Fire Services aerial platform was hampered by illegal overhead cables. There was no effective backup plan when the equipment failed. The inquiry found that personnel operating sophisticated equipment lacked formal training and highlighted manpower shortages within the fire service.

Taken together, the inquiries point to a pattern. Illegal construction is often visible, complaints are received, buildings are inspected, and violations are recorded. Yet the chain breaks somewhere between detection and enforcement.

That pattern was evident even before Seemapuri. HT reported that over 125,000 properties had been “booked” by the MCD for violations as of May 31. Enforcement action was initiated in less than half of the illegal-construction cases recorded between 2015 and 2025. In Saidulajab, the building had been flagged but still grew taller.