48 more north Delhi buildings are now marked unsafe by the civic body

With North Delhi Municipal Corporation issuing notices to 48 households about dangerous buildings, the number of buildings identified as dangerous in North Delhi has reached to 229. However, the move came a little late as seven lives were already lost after a building collapsed in Ashok Vihar.

Before the monsoon, the North MCD had found the building to be perfectly fine, but on September 26 the building collapsed and claimed seven lives. Facing backlash over the veracity of its earlier survey, the corporation had ordered the 're-survey' and the fact that the building was not declared dangerous even after an inspection is being probed by the vigilance department.

The re-survey indicated that another 48 buildings are a risk to human life in northern Delhi, raising a question on the kind of vicinity residents have been living in. Most people fear that the apartment which they have rented and where their families live might be dangerous too.

"I have been living in Seelampur area for over seven years but after the incident of Ashok Vihar we now fear that the building we are living in, might collapse one day," said Pratyush Srivastav, who works in Noida for an IT company.

According to a new survey, the Keshavpuram zone, which was earlier reported to have no unsafe building, now has five such structures. However, the highest spike was recorded in Old Delhi, which according to an older survey had only three dangerous structure, but now the current survey has racked the numbers to 48 such buildings.

Most of these buildings are unsafe due to poor design, an official said. "People should hire architects and structural engineers while planning a building even in unauthorised areas." But to save money, most of the households have neglected the rules to construct buildings and many of them do not even consult architects while building their homes.

"People in our locality have been constructing homes, without any approved building plans, but no one questions them. Later these buildings are what create problems and take so many lives," said Ravindra Gupta, a resident of New Ashok Vihar area.

Annual surveys are conducted by the engineering departments of the civic bodies before the monsoon. In the original survey, the south corporation had reported zero such structures while the east corporation had found only one dangerous building.

According to data from the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), a total of 38,363 people lost their lives due to the collapse of various structures between 2001 and 2015 across India. Most people lost their lives due to the collapse of residential houses.

VOICES

Whatever happened with the families living in Ashok Vihar building is in no way justified, but the main concern is why the MCD failed to recognize that building as a dangerous one. What was the purpose of surveys then? 
—Deepanshi Chaudhary, Student leader, DU

We have been to Old Delhi, many times and whoever visits the real Delhi would see various buildings screaming for help, but for one or other reason authorities do not pay heed to the condition of these buildings. 
—Monalisa Baidya, Resident, Greater Noida

It is really important to label the buildings which can be dangerous, so anyone who is looking the building for a room on rent or anyone who is even crossing through that building will be careful. This is the least that can be done  
—Diksha Sarkar, Student

If we talk about fatal buildings, not only Delhi but almost all over India the numbers are high mainly because people do not bother to construct their buildings with proper techniques and under architecture’s guidance 
—Ashish Bal, Tourist

With the increasing population, people have been constructing homes avoiding the preventive measures, most of the house today lack fire exit or even parking. Moreover, almost every house built today lacks proper foundation 
—Jaikant Mishra, Social Activist, Mayur Vihar 

I feel that due to more and more people from neighboring states coming in to national capital, the landowners have constructed buildings with improper structure and even avoided the factor safety 
—Kaku Sharma, Student Delhi University

EXPERTSPEAKS

Most of the buildings in Delhi are constructed as Reinforced Cement Concrete (RCC) structures, these structures can hold weight of up to two to three floors, but the residents have been constructing four or even five floors which has become prime cause of building collapse. Moreover, some buildings are constructed very close to the water table which also affects the foundation  
—Dr Seva Ram, Professor, School of Planning and Architecture