The collapse of a five-storey building in south Delhi's Satya Niketan that killed at least seven people has brought the spotlight on many illegal construction in the city, where an MCD survey in June identified 19 buildings as dangerous among nearly 28 lakh structures inspected. As pet the updates from the MCD, the building that collapsed on Sunday was constructed in the 1990s on a plot of around 55 square yards in a resettlement colony, and consisted of a basement and ground to the fourth floor.
Locals claim the building was nearly 50-year-old
However, some locals claimed that the building was nearly 50 years old and was built in the 1970s. Moreover, the officials said that permission had originally been granted only for a ground-plus-one structure in these resettlement colonies.
MCD officials said the decades-old G+4 building housed a boys' hostel. The civic body said that the structure had no sanctioned building plan, nor was any complaint against it received.
Officials said the area had been developed as a resettlement colony in the 1970s, with small plots allotted to residents. MCD Commissioner Sanjeev Khirwar said a magisterial inquiry will shed more light on the immediate cause behind the collapse.
Locals blame repair work and water accumulation in basement
Meanwhile, various locals have blamed repair work and water accumulation in the basement for the collapse. The MCD has evacuated tenants from the adjoining building, which houses a girls' PG, and sealed the premises.
The MCD officials said that at least four buildings in the vicinity have been issued vacation notices under Section 349 of the Delhi Municipal Corporation Act, 1957. Under section 349, read with section 491, MCD can issue vacation and dangerous building notices to any building deemed dangerous or hazardous.
Officials said MCD documents showed that the owner paid property tax last year and conversion charges in 2007. Between June and September, the civic body carried out demolition at approximately 980 properties, sealed 460 properties, issued more than 1,500 show-cause notices for unauthorised construction and 708 sealing show-cause notices, and issued more than 720 demolition orders.
Building collapse raises questions about MCD's annual pre-monsoon survey
The building collapse incident has also raised questions about the effectiveness of the MCD's annual pre-monsoon survey of vulnerable buildings. The MCD officials said in a survey earlier this year, the MCD surveyed 27,84,286 buildings, finding only 19 dangerous.
They added that the building survey is largely based on visual inspections, with MCD teams looking for cracks, tilting walls and other visible signs of structural distress. Officials generally assess buildings from the outside rather than carrying out detailed structural examinations.
Several fatal building collapses and fire incidents, especially in the South Zone, have taken place in the city this year, including the May 30 collapse in Saidulajab that killed six people, and a bed & breakfast in the Hauz Rani area which caught fire on June 3, killing 23, including 11 foreign nationals.
With inputs from PTI
Also Read:
Satya Niketan tragedy: PG owner held, MCD officials suspended; structural audit ordered | Top points
