NEW DELHI: For students arriving in the national capital from across the country, Satya Niketan's proximity to Delhi University's South Campus makes it an easy place to look for a home, even when the room, food and facilities fall short.
The five-storey building that collapsed in south Delhi's Satya Niketan on Sunday, killing seven people, housed a boys' PG. Its collapse has left students living in the neighbourhood in a state of uncertainty about the buildings around them, but also about why so many of them end up living in PGs in the first place.
For most freshers, Satya Niketan is one of the first places they hear about when they start looking for accommodation near South Campus. The lanes are full of PGs, messes, shops and cafes, and the metro station and colleges are within easy reach. With hostel accommodation unavailable at several colleges and limited even where it exists, students often have little room to be selective.
Roshan Pal, 18, a first-year student of Deen Dayal Upadhyaya College from Lucknow, had gone out with friends for ice cream around 1.10 pm on Sunday when they saw people running through the lane.
"We thought there was some fight or mob because the elections are coming up. We saw people running frantically and, within seconds, we saw a huge cloud of smoke spreading heavily. Then we realised a building had collapsed. I called the police myself," Roshan said.
He said that until around 1.30 pm, personnel from the South Campus police post were the only police personnel he saw at the spot. Students and locals had also rushed towards the building.
The accommodation available to students comes at sharply different prices.
A bed in a triple- or four-sharing room without a balcony and with little or no ventilation costs around Rs 10,000-Rs 12,000, students said. A double-sharing room with better ventilation or a balcony costs around Rs 15,000 or more, while a single room can cost Rs 25,000.
"I am from Lucknow, and I pay around Rs 15,000 for a shared room. But even a room without proper ventilation or a balcony can cost Rs 10,000 to Rs 12,000. If you want a single room, it can go up to Rs 25,000. You keep paying more for a little more space or a balcony," Roshan said.
He said the buildings can look very different when students first come to see them.
"Every academic session, PG buildings are repainted. When parents come to see the place, the building looks new and well maintained. If there is a balcony or some ventilation, you naturally get attracted to that room. You think, 'This is a good place.' But after you start living there, you find that the fridge does not cool properly, the induction does not work, and the washing machine may not work," Roshan said.
For students sharing rooms, even small problems become difficult to escape.
"The rooms are so small. Three people can be living in a room, and sometimes six people are staying in spaces where there should not be that many people. You are studying, sleeping and keeping all your things in the same small space," said Abhinav Raman Sinha, 18, a first-year student of Atma Ram Sanatan Dharma College from Uttarakhand.
Ventilation is one of the things students said they end up paying more for.
"If you do not keep an alarm, sometimes you would not even know whether it is day or night. There is barely any ventilation in some rooms. The rooms with balconies cost more, so even air and light become something you have to consider when you are deciding what you can afford," another student said.
The same goes for basic services.
"The fridge is sometimes cooling, and sometimes it is not. The induction does not work properly. For hot water, we sometimes have to tell them the night before. And when you complain about something, the PG people say it was not mentioned in the brochure," he said.
Food is usually part of the arrangement. Students said they are often required to pay for it even when they do not eat it.
"As for the food in all these PGs, it is extremely sub-standard. When you first arrive, they will serve you very good food, but after that they degrade the quality so much that sometimes you will not even find lentils in the dal, just water," said Abhishek Mishra, a first-year law faculty student.
"Sometimes you will spot an insect or pest in the food, and then you stop eating it altogether. But students do not have the option of saying that they only want the room. Food is mandatory. You have to pay for it whether you eat it or not," Mishra said.
Another student said the quantity is not always enough either.
"They say it is unlimited food, but sometimes the food gets finished within half an hour. You tell them that the food is over, but what can you do? You have already paid for it," he said.
Saumya Parashar, a student from Bhopal, said life outside the PGs can be just as inconvenient.
"Five minutes of rain and water starts flowing through the entire street because the road is sloped. The water collects near the temple and in front of the PG. This is the main route to the metro station, so we have to use it even when it is waterlogged. There is also construction around the area, and dust keeps settling," she said.
Students said many PG messes do not have proper seating areas, leaving them with little space to eat or spend time outside their rooms. For those already sharing a small room, that means studying or spending time in the library can become difficult when weather or waterlogging makes travelling inconvenient.
The dependence on PGs has grown with the neighbourhood itself.
After Delhi University established South Campus in 1973, houses in Satya Niketan and the surrounding area increasingly began accommodating students from colleges such as Sri Venkateswara College, Jesus and Mary College and Atma Ram Sanatan Dharma College. Over time, homes became commercial rental properties, with more beds and partitions added to accommodate the growing number of students.
Now, there are over 200 PG accommodations in and around Satya Niketan, according to local estimates.
Students say the shortage of college hostels is what keeps this market going.
"We are studying in so-called top 15 or 20 colleges. Colleges need to improve and expand their hostel infrastructure. Very few colleges have hostels, and even where hostels are available, not every student can get a room. At Sri Venkateswara, for example, hostel accommodation is largely restricted by eligibility and merit. If you are a fresher coming from another city and you do not get a hostel, you have to find a PG," Saumya said.
Once they move in, students also have to deal with security deposits and the difficulty of moving again if the accommodation turns out to be unsuitable.
The student body, they said, is not much help with these everyday concerns.
"The union is barely active except around elections. They try to attract students for a month, but after the elections, you will not see them around colleges. You will not see the 'May I Help You' counters either. For these problems, there is hardly anyone to go to," a student claimed.
The academic session began on August 28, but students said many had been away for the first few days because of the break. Now, after the collapse, some families are asking their children to leave.