The death toll from the collapse of a three-storey building in Old Delhi’s Hauz Qazi area rose to three on Saturday. Rescue teams recovered the body of a third labourer from the rubble, concluding a search operation that lasted nearly 48 hours. The deceased, identified as 40-year-old Pankaj Sharma from Bihar’s Khagaria district, was one of the many workers present at the site when the structure crumbled on Thursday morning.
The incident occurred at approximately 9:45 am in Gali Sitara, near the Chawri Bazar Metro station. According to reports from the Deputy Commissioner of Police (Central) Rohit Rajbir Singh, roughly 10 to 15 labourers were working on the site when the building suddenly gave way. While five people were eventually pulled from the debris, including the three fatalities, four others were rescued by local residents shortly after the collapse.
The two other deceased victims have been identified as 40-year-old Kishori and 45-year-old Sanjeet. Two additional workers, Sahdev Chaudhary, 25, and Firoz, 37, were rescued with injuries. Both men have received medical treatment and are reported to be in stable condition. Following the recovery of the final body, operations transitioned to clearing the extensive debris left at the narrow site.
Investigations into the cause of the disaster have highlighted significant regulatory failures. Officials from the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) confirmed that the structure, built on a 50-square-metre plot, had no sanctioned building plan. Preliminary assessments by civic authorities suggest that the construction materials used were non-engineered and had not properly set by the time the roof slab was being laid, contributing to the catastrophic failure of the third floor.
Further scrutiny reveals that the unauthorised nature of the construction was not unknown to local authorities. In mid-June, the station house officer (SHO) of the Hauz Qazi police station had formally written to the MCD's City Sadar Paharganj Zone, explicitly flagging the illegal construction activity at the property. The communication, dated June 15, had identified the landowner and the contractor involved as a person named Furqan.
In response to the tragedy, the Delhi Police have registered a formal First Information Report (FIR) under Section 105 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, which pertains to culpable homicide not amounting to murder. The case has been filed against the building owners and the contractors responsible for the site. Law enforcement officials have stated that active efforts are currently underway to trace and apprehend the builders, who have remained elusive since the collapse.
The collapse underscores ongoing concerns regarding building safety and the prevalence of illegal construction in densely populated areas of the capital. As the investigation into the criminal negligence proceeds, questions remain about how the unauthorised project was allowed to proceed to the third floor despite prior warnings issued by the police. For now, the focus in the Hauz Qazi neighbourhood remains on clearing the site and supporting the families of the victims affected by this preventable incident.
Comments