Building collapse in Delhi’s Sawan Park damages four nearby structures

Some occupants of buildings near the collapsed house argue for demolition while others oppose it.

When a building in north Delhi’s Sawan Park came crumbling down on Wednesday morning, it damaged four other buildings in the same row. On Thursday, the occupants of one such building fought tooth and nail to prevent the demolition of his building; meanwhile, residents of another building a few doors down demanded that their structure be demolished.

Four children and two women were killed and at least six others were injured, two of them critically, after a five-storey building collapsed in northwest Delhi’s Sawan Park near Ashok Vihar Phase-3 on Wednesday morning. (Sanchit Khanna/HT Photo)

Standing firm

One of those buildings, a four-storey structure constructed over a 25 square yard plot, is one building away from the collapsed structure. It was bought for Rs 7 lakh around three years ago by the family of Ravi Chandra Prakash, a car mechanic.

On Thursday, there was a visible three-inch wide crack between this building and the one that separates it from the collapsed structure. These two buildings, deemed unsafe by civic agencies, are to be demolished. But Prakash and his family opposed the move.

“The crack has been there for years and it will do no damage. We didn’t erect pillars while renovation, but used quality material. We want to continue living here,” said Prakash, whose family occupies the top three floors while a grocery shop operates out of the ground floor. “Stronger structures have fallen during earthquakes. We are willing to risk it,” said Prakash’s mother, Baby, a homemaker. “We spent our life’s savings on this house... Why didn’t civic agencies stop us when we were renovating the house,” her son added.

For demolition

Prakash’s stance was in sharp contrast to that of Suman Kumari, who owns a four-storey house six buildings away from the one that collapsed on Wednesday. “My children and I couldn’t sleep last night. My house has been left with a wide crack. I want it demolished as soon as possible,” said Kumari.

On Thursday, she claimed that she apprised a junior engineer (JE) about the situation. “I also told him that my building has been tilted for some time now. He told me that my house needs to be demolished, but asked me to do it on my own,” said Kumari.

“This is a corner building. There could be damage to neighbouring structures and passersby if I get it torn down on my own. I will meet civic officials on Friday and give an application to have it properly demolished,” said Kumari.

The hopeless

Unlike Prakash and Kumari, who hope their pleas will be heard, street hawker Vishnu Singh said he’s been rendered hopeless since the building collapse. He lived on the second floor of the house on which the ill-fated building fell on Wednesday. Singh’s food stall, which he inherited from his father 18 years ago, lay under the rubble of the collapsed building. Disabled in his leg, Singh has lost his only source of livelihood. “It will cost me at least Rs 30,000 to start another stall. But I have only Rs 2,000,” said Singh.

But a 15-year-old boy from the same building won’t let the accident impact his studies. “I have my unit test on Friday. I have been studying at a friend’s home,” said the boy whose father didn’t want him identified.

On the run

Meanwhile, the three men, booked for culpable homicide not amounting to murder, continued to remain on the run on Thursday, said Aslam Khan, deputy commissioner of police (north-west). “The three men, Dharmendra, Sachin and his father Roshan Lal would collect rent from the occupants of the collapsed building. They had been compelling the occupants not to vacate the house despite the threats. We are on their trail,” said the DCP.