New Delhi, Sept. 7 -- A more than 27-hour rescue effort at the site of a collapsed five-storey building in Delhi's Satya Niketan area ended on Monday evening with seven people confirmed dead and five injured, as police arrested the building's owners and the Delhi High Court ordered a high-level inquiry into how the tragedy occurred.
The structure, which housed a paying guest (PG) accommodation for students near Delhi University's South Campus, came down around 1:30 pm on Sunday. Twelve people were pulled from the rubble by rescue teams. Seven of them, including five students and a 75-year-old labourer, did not survive. The Delhi Fire Service confirmed that all rescue units were withdrawn from the site around 5:10 pm on Monday once the operation concluded.
Police arrested three members of the family that owned and ran the building: 81-year-old Hariram Gupta, a retired sergeant with the Indian Air Force, his wife 75-year-old Urmila Gupta, in whose name the property was registered, and their 52-year-old son Mahesh Gupta, who runs a hardware and paint shop. According to police, Hariram and Mahesh managed the day-to-day running of the PG while Urmila held ownership of the property. Investigators also found that Hariram had electricity connections registered for two floors of the building in his own name. All three have been booked on charges including culpable homicide and negligence in maintaining the structure. Police said they are also searching for the PG operators and the labour contractor linked to the site to determine what role they may have played.
The Delhi High Court described the collapse as "most unfortunate" and said the government could not evade responsibility for tragedies that result from lax enforcement by civic authorities. The court has ordered a detailed inquiry by the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) into the circumstances that led to the building's failure.
Chief Minister Rekha Gupta visited the site for a second time on Monday and warned that officials found responsible would face strict action. Within hours, the MCD suspended five of its officials from the South Zone, including deputy commissioner Rakesh Kumar, superintending engineer Ranvir Singh, executive engineer Lalit Kumar Goel, assistant engineer Sunil Chauhan and junior engineer Ashish Kumar. Gupta also directed officials to seal every five-storey structure in the city as a precaution.
Delhi Lieutenant Governor Taranjit Singh Sandhu chaired a separate meeting with Gupta and senior officers, calling for strict enforcement against unsafe buildings and better use of the emergency mechanism under the Delhi Disaster Management Authority. He said he had asked Urban Development Minister Ashish Sood to head a committee that will look into alternative housing for students, including the possible use of vacant DDA housing stock. Sandhu also ordered inspection drives across PG hubs in the city, particularly buildings suspected of violating height and floor limits. Separately, the MCD ordered the owner of a building next to the collapsed one to demolish it within three days after inspectors found it to be in a dangerous condition.
The five students who died were identified as Abhishek, 20, of Sonebhadra in Uttar Pradesh; Yuvraj Soni, 20, of Durg in Chhattisgarh; Pawan, 17, of Auraiya in Uttar Pradesh; Arpit Jahaj, 19, of Dewas in Madhya Pradesh; and Akshat Singh Yadav, 18, of Katni in Madhya Pradesh. Surinder Singh, 75, a labourer, also died, along with one person who remains unidentified. Two of the deceased students reportedly donated their corneas. The five injured, three of whom remain in critical condition at AIIMS, were identified as Asgar Ali, 30, Neeraj Bawa, 19, Aditya Kumar, 19, Nitish Chib, 19, and Md Ayan, 18.
At the AIIMS trauma centre, grieving families searched for information about their loved ones. One mother said she had checked five or six PGs in the area before choosing this one for her son because it had an air conditioner and washing machine, so he could focus on his studies. She later identified his body through a mole on his neck and a birthmark on his leg.
The collapse has renewed scrutiny of student housing conditions in areas like Satya Niketan, where many say they pay between Rs 15,000 and Rs 30,000 a month, sometimes more, for cramped rooms shared between two people, often without clean drinking water or basic upkeep. A Public Interest Litigation has since been filed in the Delhi High Court by law student Aniket Kumar Gupta, seeking Rs 1 crore compensation for victims' families, medical aid for the injured, safe relocation of students from unsafe accommodations, and a structural audit of hostels and PGs across areas including Mukherjee Nagar, Karol Bagh, Old Rajendra Nagar and Laxmi Nagar. The plea, mentioned before a bench led by Chief Justice D K Upadhyaya, also calls for an independent commission to investigate the collapse and recommend action against those found responsible.
Meanwhile, the tragedy has also triggered political sparring, with the BJP and AAP trading accusations over misplaced priorities even as the city continues to reckon with the human cost of the collapse.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.