Get your houses checked, north Delhi civic body tells residents

Taking cognizance of the two building collapses in Devnagar of Karol Bagh within a span of five days, the North Delhi Municipal Corporation (NDMC) on Thursday issued an appeal to residents to get their houses “examined by corporation engineers” if they feel it’s become “weak”.

Taking cognizance of the two building collapses in Devnagar of Karol Bagh within a span of five days, the North Delhi Municipal Corporation (NDMC) on Thursday issued an appeal to residents to get their houses “examined by corporation engineers” if they feel it’s become “weak”. They can contact the North corporation helpline number 155304 and get the structural analysis done for free, officials maintained.

On February 23, the chhajja (parapet) and staircase of a 40-year-old building fell in Devnagar, an incident in which an elderly couple had a narrow escape. On Wednesday, a four-storey building collapsed and a woman sustained head injuries while escaping. (Sanchit Khanna/HT Photo)

On February 23, the chhajja (parapet) and staircase of a 40-year-old building fell in Devnagar, an incident in which an elderly couple had a narrow escape. On Wednesday, a four-storey building collapsed and a woman sustained head injuries while escaping.

“Many areas under our jurisdiction — especially those such as Chandni Chowk, Sadar Bazar and Paharganj in the Walled City — have habitations going back to pre-Independence times or 1940s. The buildings here have become very old but their occupants are often unwilling to move out,” said North corporation mayor, Adesh Kumar Gupta.

“Many elderly couples, whose children live in other cities or countries, reside here. Despite our requests, they refuse to look for safer alternatives. Also, many tenants, who have been residing in these buildings for decades, stubbornly stay put as the rents are often as low as R200 to R300 per month. They fear losing rights over the house but not their lives,” he said.

An engineer with the North corporation said they “visually inspect buildings for tilts or cracks” and if present, venture inside. “We issue notices for them to leave warning them of the condition of their building. If they refuse, we send a notice to the police saying there is a ‘risk to life and property here’. If the police also do not take action, there is little we can do,” he said.

According to officials, the elderly couple who narrowly escaped injuries in the February 23 collapse had refused to move out despite warnings. “In Khera Kalan in Narela, for example, we have declared 126 houses dilapidated and in immediate danger of falling since 2016 but occupants refuse to vacate. They say we have invested our entire life’s saving and won’t go anywhere,” said a North corporation official.

The corporation will also begin its “pre-monsoon survey of dangerous buildings” in March, the mayor said.

In its last survey, the corporation had found 181 “dangerous” buildings — 171 in Narela zone, four in Karol Bagh zone, three in Sadar-Paharganj zone, two in Rohini zone and one in Civil Lines zone.