New Delhi: The over 27-hour rescue operation at the Delhi building collapse site concluded on Monday evening, September 7, with seven people dead and five injured. The building owner, his wife and son were arrested, five MCD officials suspended, and the Delhi High Court ordered a high-level inquiry into the incident.
The rescue operation concluded around 5.10 pm, following which all rescue units were withdrawn from the site, according to the Delhi Fire Service. Twelve people were pulled out of the debris — seven of them died, and five are undergoing treatment — after the five-storey Satya Niketan building housing a boys’ paying guest accommodation near Delhi University’s South Campus collapsed around 1.30 pm on Sunday.
The Delhi High Court on Monday ordered a high-level MCD inquiry into the incident and made it clear that the government cannot evade responsibility. It termed the incident “most unfortunate” and said such tragedies are a result of inadequate measures employed by the MCD and other authorities.
81-yr-old building owner arrested
Police arrested building owner 81-year-old Hariram, a retired Indian Air Force sergeant, his 75-year-old wife Urmila, and 52-year-old son Mahesh. They have been booked on charges including culpable homicide, negligence in the upkeep of a structure and endangering the safety of others.
“Hariram and his son were allegedly running the PG, while Urmila was the owner of the property. Following the arrests, teams are questioning the three to ascertain the cause of the collapse and fix responsibility for the incident,” a police officer said.
The Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) has issued an order, asking the owner of a building adjacent to the collapsed building to demolish the structure within three days after it was found to be in a “ruinous and dangerous condition”.
MCD Deputy Commissioner under suspension
Chief Minister Rekha Gupta visited the site again on Monday and warned of strict action against officials responsible for the tragedy.
Within hours, MCD deputy commissioner of South zone Rakesh Kumar and four engineers were placed under suspension.
According to MCD orders accessed by PTI, the other suspended officials are Superintending Engineer Ranvir Singh, Executive Engineer (Building) Lalit Kumar Goel, Assistant Engineer (Building) Sunil Chauhan and Junior Engineer (Building) Ashish Kumar, all from the South Zone.
All five-storey structures to be sealed
CM Gupta has directed officials to seal all five-storey structures in the city.
Delhi Lieutenant Governor Taranjit Singh Sandhu chaired a meeting attended by Gupta and top officers, emphasising strict enforcement against unsafe buildings and the emergency mechanism under the Delhi Disaster Management Authority.
He directed inspection drives in PG hubs, especially in houses that have prima facie violated height and floor restrictions.
All seven deceased identified
All seven deceased have been identified as Abhishek, 20, a student and a resident Sonebhadra in Uttar Pradesh, Yuvraj Soni, 20, a student and a resident of Durg in Chhattisgarh, Pawan, 17, a student from Auraiya in Uttar Pradesh, Arpit Jahaj, 19, a student from Dewas in Madhya Pradesh, Akshat Singh Yadav, 18, a student hailing from Katni in Madhya Pradesh, Surinder Singh, 75, a labourer and an unidentified person around around 18.
The injured are Asgar Ali, 30, Neeraj Bawa, 19, Aditya Kumar, 19, Nitish Chib, 19, and Md Ayan, 18.
The All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) said three of the injured — Ali, Bawa, and Kumar — were in critical condition.
Young lives lost, families shattered
At the AIIMS trauma Centre, families and friends struggled for answers as they tried to find out about their loved ones who were killed or injured in the incident.
Akshit, 18, a first-year B.Com student, had returned to Delhi from his hometown on September 5. His mother identified his body by a mole on his neck and a birthmark on his leg, she said.
She said she had checked five or six PGs in the area before choosing this one for him as it had an air conditioner and a washing machine, allowing him to focus solely on his studies.
Chib, a second-year B.Com student from Jammu, told his brother about what he witnessed moments before the building collapsed. According to his brother, Chib heard the sound of water rushing and ran to his friend’s room. Before they could make their way downstairs, the building collapsed.
BJP, AAP play blame game
A war of words erupted on Monday between the BJP and the AAP over the building collapse, with the two parties accusing each other of having different “priorities” and not focusing on the victims.
The BJP accused the AAP of spending lavishly on former chief minister Arvind Kejriwal’s official bungalow, alleging that no one has forgotten its love for “Sheeshmahal”.
The jibe came in response to a post by the AAP on X accusing Union Home Minister Amit Shah of inaugurating a party office in Goa when the building collapsed in Delhi.
The incident has prompted scrutiny of the condition of buildings in the area, the role of civic authorities and the circumstances under which repair work was being carried out at the collapsed structure.
Follow on Twitter | Edited by Veena Nair | 
