On 6th September (Sunday), Delhi was rocked by the collapse of a structure that housed college students as paying guests. The tragedy at Satya Niketan has resulted in at least seven fatalities, including five students and numerous injuries. It has now come to light that the building’s owners were aware that the additional weight would be too much for the structure’s old foundation.
Nevertheless, they proceeded with adding four additional floors to generate rental income. The shocking disclosures have been made in the FIR (First Information Report) registered in the matter.
The FIR stated that despite being familiar with the constraints of the existing foundation, building owner Hariram Bansal, also known as Gupta, and his brother raised the four levels. The police mentioned that the possibility of the risk associated with the extra burden on the property’s structural stability was ignored and the expansion was carried out to increase revenue from rent.
The 50-year-old building named “HostelDaze” crumbled after the owners decided to take advantage of the area’s close proximity to Delhi University. They upgraded and converted it into a paying guest facility. A large number of students and other tenants were housed in the building, which had four upper stories and a bottom floor when the tragedy unfolded.
According to police, the owners were conscious that the construction would cause the structure to give way and result in fatalities because the underlying foundation could not support it. However, they continued with the plan. Moreover, further construction was in progress at the time of the occurrence.
The FIR was filed on Sunday night at the South Campus Police Station on the complaint of ASI Prafull Toppo. Sections 105, 290, and 125(a) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, which deal with acts that endanger life or personal safety, culpable homicide that does not amount to murder and negligence in building construction or repair, have been invoked.
The incident occurred at approximately 1 pm, and the information was shared with the police at 1:34 pm. The caller reported that students were believed to be trapped inside the fallen structure, which was being used as a PG. At least 12 individuals, including the deceased, were pulled from the rubble between Sunday and Monday night.
The Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) staff, firefighters, rescue teams, ambulances, senior police officials, the district crime team and the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) were rushed to the scene. Delhi Police have already taken 81-year-old Hariram, his wife Urmila and their son Mahesh into custody. According to the FIR, the PCR call, the conditions at the location and the medical records of the deceased along with the injured were used to prove a prima facie cognisable offence.
The victims included Abhishek (20), Yuvraj Soni (20), Pawan (17), Arpit Jajaj (19), Akshat Singh Yadav (18) and labourer Surinder Singh (75). The injured have been identified as Asgar Ali (30), Neeraj Bawan (19), Aditya Kumar (19), Nitish Chib (19) and Mohammad Ayan (18). They were admitted to the AIIMS Trauma Centre and Safdarjung Hospital.
The police conveyed that Hariram acknowledged supervising the renovations, and an injured worker attested to the fact that work was underway in the basement. Afterwards, the Delhi government mandated more thorough safety checks of PG housing and coaching facilities around the city.
The FIR now raises an important question regarding how the four extra levels were permitted to be built when it was recognised that the existing foundation was unable to accommodate the additional weight. The investigation would also revolve around the persons who approved or permitted the further development of the property and whether any formal licenses or structural safety evaluations were acquired prior to the installation of the floors.
