India, June 1 -- Delhi is experiencing deja vu after the shocking building collapse in Saidulajab on Saturday, which claimed six lives. The tedious perfunctory reactions of political blame games, inquiries, suspensions, belated inspections, and the promises of action are all too familiar.

Building collapses, along with fires, cause more deaths than any other disaster in Delhi. Staying invisible to regulators in broad daylight, hundreds of unauthorised colonies and urban villages - home to nearly half of the city's residents - are dotted with structures that flout rules. The Saidulajab building, a four-storey structure with two additional floors under construction atop the existing ones, housed offices and co-working spaces. It was conspi...