The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and the Congress on Monday (September 7) protested against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government over the building collapse in Satya Niketan that killed seven people. 

AAP staged a protest in Satya Niketan, demanding that the BJP government release a list of people who own paying guest (PG) accommodation in the area. 

AAP Delhi president Saurabh Bharadwaj questioned who was operating the “PG mafia”, why action was not being taken against illegal PGs and whether influential BJP leaders had financial interests in them. He asked how Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) engineers or police personnel could act against illegal PGs if powerful political figures were running them. 

Mr. Bharadwaj alleged that people on social media had, since Sunday, been claiming that several senior BJP leaders owned properties in the area. “The exploitation of students through expensive PG accommodations, and the MCD’s failure to act against it, is linked to the fact that influential leaders have invested heavily in properties there,” he said. 

He said suspending a single Commissioner or Deputy Commissioner would not solve the problem. “The names of influential BJP leaders whose money is invested here, resulting in the exploitation of students, must be made public,” he said. 

Mr. Bharadwaj also said the Central government must build hostels for students in the area. “Until hostels are constructed and allotted to students, the government should pay students’ PG fees. Only then will the government have an incentive to build hostels quickly, otherwise, it will not,” he said. 

‘Justice for victims’

Delhi Congress president Devender Yadav staged a sit-in at the site of the collapse, demanding justice for the injured and the families of those killed. 

Mr. Yadav alleged that corruption in the BJP-led system was responsible for the collapse. He questioned who had permitted repairs to be carried out in the basement of the 50-year-old, five-storey building without safety arrangements after the basement was flooded, and alleged administrative irresponsibility and corruption. 

“The Congress’s protest against the Rekha Gupta government will continue till strict action is taken against the culprits and justice is done to the injured and the families of the deceased students. Municipal Commissioner should resign taking responsibility for the collapse as repeat of such mishaps happen due to corruption in the MCD, from top to bottom,” Mr. Yadav said. 

Govt. responds

Responding to the Opposition’s allegations, Urban Development Minister Ashish Sood said, “We are concerned about the safety of the children and about fixing the rotten system that the ‘A-team’ and ‘B-team’ have built up within this administration over the last 27 years. The focus must be on what action needs to be taken.”

Student volunteers from nearby colleges were among the first to reach the site of the five-storey building collapse in Satya Niketan on Sunday afternoon, clearing debris and helping make way for rescue machinery, according to locals. 

“The NSUI students were the first ones to reach. I saw them working very aggressively, removing debris with their bare hands, carrying huge blocks of cement,” said Mahender Singh, a resident who runs a sports products company. 

“I first heard a massive sound but ignored it, thinking someone must have had loud music on. But then someone said a building had collapsed and I rushed to the site,” he added. 

Around 2.30 p.m., personnel from the Delhi Fire Service and the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) had begun rescue operations, but earthmovers had yet to reach the site and the public was still gathered in the area, residents said. The call about the collapse had been made around 1.30 p.m. 

Student volunteers and police personnel dispersed the crowd and formed a human chain along the road to make way for the earthmovers. Before the machines arrived, the volunteers removed chunks of brick, mud and stone, along with damaged vehicles, from the area. They also opened access to a nearby MCD park so that debris could be dumped there. 

One student climbed onto an earthmover and tied up dangling wires to clear its passage to the collapse site. 

A video showing a student trapped under the debris was also circulated among student groups. 

“A first-year B.Com. student, Aditya, from Atma Ram Sanatan Dharma (ARSD) College made a video of another student being trapped under the debris. While Aditya was safely rescued, the student seen trapped in the video could not be saved,” said Vansh Rajput, another student from the college. 

Students living in nearby paying guest (PG) accommodations and hostels were evacuated and provided food and shelter at Sri Venkateswara College and ARSD. 

Students were also evacuated from a girls’ PG adjacent to the collapsed building after it suffered structural damage. 

“My daughter lives in a nearby PG. She just finished her graduation from Venkateswara College. At the time of the collapse, I was just seconds away from the site. I rushed to my daughter’s PG,” said Jonali Boradas, who had come from Assam to visit her children. 

Mr. Singh also alleged that unauthorised construction was widespread in the area. “The entire area is full of illegal construction. The building had walls with just four inches thickness and no pillars for support. A year ago, another building had collapsed in the area,” he said. 

The collapse also prompted concerns over the safety and facilities available at private student accommodations in the area. 

Manish Sharma, national in-charge of the Indian Youth Congress, said, “As private student accommodations accumulate in the city, governments should look at what facilities they are providing to students. When we think of larger education reforms, these issues form part of it. What is it that we are offering the youth?” 

One person was killed and at least five others were feared trapped after a four-storeyed under-construction building collapsed in north-west Delhi’s Rohini Sector 16 on Wednesday evening.

“The police received a PCR call at 4.28 p.m. and a rescue operation was launched immediately,” Deputy Commissioner of Police (Rohini) Shashank Jaiswal said, adding that the area was immediately secured and nearby buildings were evacuated as a precautionary measure. Delhi Fire Services and National Disaster Response Force personnel were also pressed into the rescue operation, officials said.

According to eyewitnesses, a biker, who was passing by the area at the time, came under the debris and was grievously injured as the building came crashing down. He was taken to a nearby hospital where doctors declared him brought dead, officials said. The deceased has been identified as Ram Kishore, 42.

A construction worker, Ravi, 35, was rescued safely. “Rescue personnel managed to establish contact with him as he was trapped under the rubble and managed to pass on drinking water to him. We also arranged an oxygen cylinder even as rescue personnel pulled him out to safety,” a police officer said. Building owner Manju Dua’s husband, Ram Dua, is also suspected to be trapped in the rubble, the officer added. “At least four-five workers are suspected to be still trapped inside the collapsed structure,” he said.

Residents rushed to the site after hearing a loud crash from the collapse and started removing the debris amid cries of help from under the pile of rubble.

‘Run, run, it’s falling’

“I was going to meet a friend when I heard a loud crash and then a cloud of dust. Everyone started running in all directions,” said Ramesh Kumar, a local shop owner, who joined his neighbours in the initial rescue efforts.

A 10-year-old, who was passing by the area along with his sister and mother at the time of the collapse, said, “At first, we heard a rumbling sound and saw three labourers running out, shouting, ‘run, run, the building is falling’. After that it was all dust and nothing was visible.”

The rescue operation will continue through the night, the DCP said.