Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) founder Abhijeet Dipke on Sunday reacted to the collapse of a building in Delhi's Satya Niketan, where around 40-50 students are suspected to have been trapped under the rubble, questioning the state of educational infrastructure and asking, "Will the PM visit DU again and explain how did this happen?"
"Yesterday, the PM visited DU, gave a political speech and even invoked the term “Dimagi Naxal,” while speaking very little about the state of our educational infrastructure," Dipke said in a post.
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"Today, a hostel building in South Campus has collapsed, with students feared trapped under the debris. The number of casualties is still unknown," he said.
{{/usCountry}}"Today, a hostel building in South Campus has collapsed, with students feared trapped under the debris. The number of casualties is still unknown," he said.
{{/usCountry}}"For how long will students in this country have to pay the price for failing infrastructure and neglect?" Dipke asked, adding, "Adivasi students are dying in tribal belts due to a lack of care and support, and even students studying in the national capital are not safe."
"Students deserve safe classrooms, safe hostels and basic dignity. Is that really too much to ask?" he said.
Dipke concluded his reaction by asking, "Will the PM visit DU again and explain how did this happen?"
AAP leader Saurabh Bhardwaj also reacted to the incident. "Another building collapse in Satya Niketan, it was a PG accommodation of South Campus college students for DU. Around 30-40 students are feared to be under the debris," he wrote in a post on X.
"Rate of Executive Engineer Transfer in building Dept of MCD is 1.25 crore. So this won’t stop," he added.
He likened today's incident to the Saket building collapse. "It’s the same story like Saket building collapse. In the name of audits, crores will again be looted from businesses, gyms, hotels, hospitals. Nothing will change."
Congress reacts
The Congress also reacted to the building collapse and called the incident "extremely unfortunate".
"The news of the building collapse in Satya Niketan near the South Campus of Delhi University is extremely unfortunate. According to reports, most of the residents in this building were DU students, and information has been received that they are trapped under the debris," the party said.
"Since immediately after the incident, NSUI comrades have been engaged at the site in providing every possible assistance," it said.
The Congress appealed to the government to step up rescue efforts, saying, "We appeal to the government to carry out relief and rescue operations at a war footing, and to quickly extricate the students and people trapped under the debris."
Rescue operation underway
The reactions came as rescue operations continued at the site of the collapsed building in Satya Niketan. Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta said teams from DDMA, NDRF, Delhi Fire Services, Delhi Police, MCD, CTS and Civil Defence were involved in the operation on a "war footing".
Around 6-7 students have been rescued from under the rubble and admitted to nearby hospitals. Three of the students admitted to the AIIMS trauma centre are in a critical state, the hospital said.
Police said a PCR call regarding the incident was received at the South Campus Police Station at around 1.34 pm.
Also Read: ‘Most students would be inside’: Locals after boys’ PG collapses in Delhi's Satya Niketan
A police official at the site, citing a preliminary inquiry, said around 40-50 students were suspected to have been inside the building when it collapsed.
According to locals, the collapsed building was a boys' PG. An eyewitness reportedly told news agency ANI that the five-storey building was called "Hostel Daze", a dedicated boys' PG.