How many Delhi buildings are death traps? How fatal Satya Niketan PG escaped MCD’s safety survey

MCD’s annual survey found only 27 buildings unsafe despite covering nearly 30 lakh properties.

New Delhi: A six-storey building collapsed in Delhi’s Satya Niketan area, where a boys’ PG called ‘Hostel Days’ was operating. Several people are feared trapped under the rubble as rescue teams continue their operation near Shiv Mandir.

The five-storey building, which had a basement, was located near Delhi University’s South Campus.

It had been vacated about a year ago. The PG began operating again around two to three months ago. The narrow and crowded lanes around it have made the rescue operation difficult. A green corridor has been created to allow ambulances to move in and out of the area.

Some people have been pulled out of the debris. Rescue teams are still searching for those trapped inside.

What happened at the building?

The Delhi Police said it received information about the collapse at around 1:34 pm. The building was around 40 to 50 years old and repair work was underway in its basement when it came down.

Workers involved in the repair work were among those trapped under the debris.

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The PG had 10 rooms and 75 beds. It was owned by one Hari Om Bansal and his brother Anand Bansal, who live in Gurugram. The brothers reportedly operate three to four PGs.

Initial estimates put the number of people trapped under the rubble at around 25 to 30.

The collapse has also exposed the risks posed by old buildings in the national capital, where crowded neighbourhoods are home to many ageing structures and paying guest accommodations.

Delhi has seen similar building collapses

The Satya Niketan collapse is not the first such incident in the city this year.

On July 8, a four-storey under-construction building collapsed in Sector 16 of Rohini. Three people died in that incident.

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The latest collapse in Satya Niketan has added another case to Delhi’s record of building accidents. NCRB data shows that the capital city reported 25 cases of residential building collapses in 2024. Thirty people died in those incidents.

The numbers for 2023 were higher. Delhi recorded 49 residential building collapse cases that year, with 30 deaths.

On average, around two building collapse cases are reported here every month, according to the data.

How safe are Delhi’s buildings?

The condition of buildings in the city is assessed every year through a survey conducted by the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) before the monsoon.

The civic body carried out the survey this year as well. The MCD was expected to survey more than 32.55 lakh buildings. By July 2, it had surveyed around 29.94 lakh buildings.

The assesment identified only 27 buildings as ‘unsafe’ for living. Another 125 buildings were found to be in a dilapidated condition, with notices issued to their owners to carry out repairs.

By June 27, the MCD had declared 19 buildings ‘unsafe’ after surveying more than 27 lakh buildings. It later increased to 27.

Leaders of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) have also questioned the survey results. Delhi BJP spokesperson and Chandni Chowk Nagrik Manch General Secretary Praveen Shankar Kapoor accused MCD officials of ‘criminal negligence’ in the survey. In a letter to Delhi Mayor Pravesh Wahi and Commissioner Sanjeev Khirwar, he alleged that the survey had shown the number of ‘dangerous buildings’ in the capital to be far lower than the actual number.

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He said he could show at least five dangerous buildings in Church Mission Road and Khari Baoli if the mayor and commissioner accompanied him.

He also claimed that around 150 to 200 dangerous buildings in areas such as Chandni Chowk, Ballimaran, Sitaram Bazaar, Chandni Mahal, Jama Masjid and Nabi Karim still had people living in them.

Kapoor had also warned that at least 25 of these buildings could collapse during the monsoon.

How does the MCD survey work?

One issue raised over the MCD survey is the way buildings are inspected. The civic body generally carries out the initial assessment from outside. An internal inspection is conducted when cracks or other visible signs of structural damage are found.

The process can miss problems in old buildings used as PGs and hostels. A building may have several tenants and hundreds of people passing through it, while its interior and structural components may not be checked unless visible damage is found from outside.

The Satya Niketan building had been vacated around a year before the collapse and a PG had started operating there again only a few months ago.

That timeline also raises a basic issue over how buildings used as student accommodation are identified during the annual safety survey.

The MCD survey covered nearly 30 lakh buildings by July 2. Only 27 were declared ‘unsafe’ for habitation, while 125 were classified as dilapidated and notices were issued to their owners.

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