A five-storey building in Delhi’s Satya Niketan came crashing down in seconds on Sunday afternoon, killing seven people and injuring six others. The building, which was around 50 years old, housed nearly 75 students in paying guest rooms.
As it lost its strength, it was no longer able to properly support the weight of the building, which caused the floors above to become unstable. Preliminary information suggests the collapse is believed to have started in the basement, where repair work was underway. A pillar in the basement became weak during the repair work. Residents had raised concerns about its condition. However, repair work continued in the basement. The FIR registered in the case alleges that the owners, Hariram Bansal, also known as Gupta, and his brother, added four floors to the old building to earn more money through rent. Investigators are now checking the condition of the pillar, the basement and the repair work to find out exactly what went wrong. The Delhi government has ordered an FIR against the building owner. The government has ordered inspections of nearby paying guest accommodations and other buildings. Buildings with a fifth floor have also been ordered to be sealed. The Municipal Corporation of Delhi has separately issued a demolition order for House No.
Because of safety concerns, an adjacent 40-50-year-old building has also been evacuated and is set to be demolished. At around 1:30 pm, without any immediate warning, the nearly 50-foot-tall structure on a plot measuring about 55 square yards was reduced to rubble, trapping several people inside. 13 in Satya Niketan, calling it dangerous and unsafe.
Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta said preliminary findings indicate that water had accumulated in the basement and that the combination of water and repair work on the ageing structure led to the collapse. “Approximately 80% of the debris has been cleared; only the rubble from the basement remains,” Gupta said on Monday. Delhi minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa also said that the basement work may have triggered the collapse. It has also said that officials found responsible for negligence will face action.
The building had reportedly started tilting several months before the incident.
