MCD surveys 1,252 PG buildings after Satya Niketan tragedy; 3 found 'dangerous', 9 need major repairs
The civic body has separately identified 26 framed structures above G+4 floors on Wednesday for close monitoring as they may be vulnerable.
The Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) has surveyed 1,252 paying guest (PG) buildings between September 7 and 9 as part of its safety assessment drive launched after the Satya Niketan building collapse, according to officials.

Of the buildings surveyed, 1,201 were found to be visibly safe, while 39 require minor repairs and nine need major repairs. Three buildings were found to be dangerous, with demolition of one of them already underway. The civic body has separately identified 26 framed structures above G+4 floors on Wednesday for close monitoring as they may be vulnerable.
HT reported on Tuesday night that MCD officials were planning a large-scale survey of PG facilities in the cities and the number of occupants staying there.
The survey of PG buildings will continue on Thursday, even as the civic body seeks to further intensify action against unauthorised construction, misuse of properties and dangerous structures. Several such properties have already been identified for major action.
Also Read | After Satya Niketan collapse, scrutiny grows over Delhi Master Plan's PG housing gap
MCD's demolition drive following incident
Days after the Satya Niketan tragedy, civic officials also carried out a large-scale demolition drive against unauthorised and unsafe buildings, in separate action. The drive on Tuesday involved demolitions of 35 buildings across 12 MCD zones, according to an earlier HT report.
Among these, a major demolition exercise was undertaken in Najafgarh, and action was also taken against another four-storey building in Shahdara North. Demolitions were also carried out in Rohini (6), Narela (3), Civil Lines (3), Shahdara North (6), among others.
Nine sealing actions were also carried out, with two of them targeting large godowns in Karol Bagh. A hotel in West Zone was also sealed.
Also Read | Sudhanshu, operator of Delhi PG that collapsed, arrested after 7 killed in tragedy
Civic body's wider crackdown, three-month survey to identify commercial misuse
The MCD intensified action against unauthorised construction and misuse of premises after recent incidents in Saket and Malviya Nagar.
The civic body had, between June 1 and September 3, 2026, carried out demolition at 983 properties, sealed 464 properties, issued 1,516 show-cause notices for unauthorised construction and 708 sealing show-cause notices. It had issued 726 demolition orders.
MCD also conducted a three-month survey of residential areas to identify commercial misuse of residential premises, surveying around 300,000 properties across 404 colonies and 168 wards. Over 8,000cases of commercial activity were identified in residential areas during the survey, drawing action by the civic body under the Master Plan for Delhi. Around 30-40 properties were sealed, while action against several others is at various stages.
Deep Dive
ABOUT THE AUTHORShishir GuptaShishir Gupta is Executive Editor at Hindustan Times and one of India's top journalists covering national security, strategic affairs, foreign policy and geopolitics. Over the past three decades, he has extensively reported on India's military, diplomatic and security landscape, covering every major conflict and national security challenge, from the 1999 Kargil War and the 2020 East Ladakh standoff to Operation Sindoor in 2025. He has also covered major terror attacks, including the IC-814 hijacking, the 26/11 Mumbai attacks and the 2025 Pahalgam terror strike, along with numerous Pakistan-backed terrorist incidents in the Kashmir Valley and across India. He has reported on national and state elections for more than three decades. A recognised authority on strategic affairs, Gupta has covered India's nuclear programme since the Pokhran-II (Shakti series) tests in May 1998 and has written extensively on global nuclear issues, Indian diplomacy and the country's expanding global outreach. He has also reported widely on international conflicts and terrorism, with a special focus on the Indian subcontinent. Gupta has interviewed Prime Minister Narendra Modi more than four times, including Modi's first interview with the print media after becoming Prime Minister in May 2014. His other interviews include three with the Dalai Lama, as well as conversations with Benjamin Netanyahu, Amit Shah, Yogi Adityanath, S. Jaishankar, Nirmala Sitharaman and Piyush Goyal. He is the author of Indian Mujahideen: The Enemy Within (Hachette, 2011) and Himalayan Face-off: Chinese Assertion and Indian Riposte (Hachette, 2014). He was awarded the Chevening-Wolfson Joint Scholarship at Wolfson College, University of Cambridge, UK, in 1998 and participated in the International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP) of the US State Department in 2006. He received the Ben Gurion Prize from Israel in 2011 and the K. Subrahmanyam Prize for Strategic Studies in 2015 from the Manohar Parrikar Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses (MP-IDSA). Since 2024, he has hosted Point Blank, Hindustan Times' weekly YouTube show on global geopolitics.Read More

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