7 dead as building collapses in Delhi
Four of the dead were children, CM Kejriwal orders magisterial probe and relief
NEW DELHI: Seven people, including four children, were killed and five others were injured after a five-storey building collapsed on an adjacent building in northwest Delhi’s Sawan Park near Ashok Vihar Phase-3 on Wednesday morning.
One of those injured was in a critical condition. The incident, which took place two months after a twin building collapse in Greater Noida’s Shahberi killed nine people, prompted Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal to order a magisterial probe and compensation for the affected families. According to reports, the dead included a 25-year-old woman and her two children — aged two and three years.
According to locals, around 25 people from four families were living in the top three floors of the building. Local residents and police both said the building had become weak and had been ‘tilting dangerously’ for more than a year. A shop operated from the ground floor of the collapsed building but was shut at the time of the collapse. The first floor was lying unoccupied, after the family living there had vacated it 20 days ago, owing to the building’s dangerous condition.
Locals said the ‘tilted’ building had leaned against a dried up tree. Heavy rains which lashed the city in the past four days caused the dead tree to fall on Wednesday, immediately after which the tilted building came crashing down onto another fourstorey building on the opposite side. A portion of the second building collapsed due to the impact, but all its occupants managed to escape unhurt.
Ravi Gupta, the brother of ground floor owner Sanjeev Gupta, alleged that the North Delhi Municipal Corporation had been intimated about the dangerously ‘tilting’ building about a year ago. Some residents claimed that the municipal staff had carried out a survey 20 days ago and had asked the occupants to vacate the building.
The owners of the top three floors — identified by police as Dharmendra, a builder, his business partner Sachin and his father — were directed to repair the building. However, a north municipal corporation spokesperson said, “No complaint was received about the building. Yet, we did a survey before monsoon and found no cracks. No new construction activity was noticed in the area or any building material found stacked at the site. The building was hence not declared dangerous by us. We have ordered an enquiry, the report for which will be submitted within two days.”
DCP (northwest) Aslam Khan said a case of culpable homicide not amounting to murder had been registered against Dharmendra, Sachin and his father. All of them are absconding.
The dead were identified as Seema, 25, her two children Aashi and Shaurya, aged three and two, third floor residents Sumnesh Kumar, 12, his brother Rajnesh Kumar, 4, Munni, 40 and Laxman, 25.