Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta has taken strict action following the deadly building collapse in Satya Niketan, where seven people lost their lives and others were injured. In a major administrative crackdown, five MCD officials have been suspended in connection with the incident. According to an official release, the suspended officials include personnel from different levels of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD), including a Deputy Commissioner, Executive Engineer, Superintending Engineer, Assistant Engineer and Junior Engineer. The action comes amid growing questions over construction and safety violations surrounding the collapsed building.
The five officials facing suspension are:
- Rakesh Kumar: Deputy Commissioner, South Zone
- Ranveer Singh: Superintending Engineer, South Zone
- Lalit Kumar Goyal: Executive Engineer, South Zone
- Sunil Chauhan: Assistant Engineer, South Zone
- Ashish Kumar: Junior Engineer
The suspension orders were issued by the Municipal Corporation of Delhi Vigilance Department on the directions of the civic body's commissioner under the DMC Services (Control and Appeal) Regulations, 1959. The officials have been placed under suspension with immediate effect under Regulation 5(2), the orders said. They will be entitled to subsistence allowance as admissible under the rules. The suspension orders were signed by Deputy Law Officer (Vigilance) Nand Kishore.
Building owner remains untraceable
Meanwhile, the Delhi Police are continuing their efforts to locate the owner of the collapsed building, Hariram Bansal. Multiple police teams have been formed to trace him, while a Look Out Circular (LOC) has also been issued. Bansal's neighbour, SP Sharma, said he knew the property owner through his hardware business but claimed he had no information about Bansal's connection with the Satya Niketan property.
"Bansal Ji's shop is in the market. Our relationship is simply that we occasionally buy goods from his store; he has a decent personality. He has been living here for years. He owns several other houses here as well; his daughter and son also live nearby in Sector 23. He owns a hardware shop. I have no idea about Delhi; I don't know if he owns a house in Satya Niketan or anything like that, but he does have four or five properties here," Sharma told ANI.
Rescue operation continues at collapse site
Rescue teams remain deployed at the site as operations continue to locate and safely remove people who may still be trapped beneath the rubble. So far, 12 people have been rescued. NDRF Inspector General Narendra Singh Bundela said the operation could take considerable time because of the complexity involved in clearing the debris and conducting a technical search.
"We have a mandate for technical search and rescue, so we are working on that. The State Government is already looking into the matter. The Delhi Government is assessing the situation. It will be difficult for me to comment on the exact time, but it should take the whole day because removing the rubble and tracing victims inside the rubble takes a lot of time," he added.
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