NEW DELHI: A pall of gloom has descended on the Sheesh Mahal locality of Old Delhi’s Chawri Bazar, where a building collapsed on Thursday. Locals looked on solemnly as efforts to clear the debris continued a day after the tragedy claimed two lives and left several others trapped.
The incident has put the spotlight on alleged inaction by the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) on complaints of illegal construction. Questions are also swirling over the civic body’s preparedness to assess structural safety. Those affected by the tragedy were seen waiting in agony at the site.
The brother of one of the victims, Sanjeet, is stilling trying to come to terms with the loss of his 35-year-old sibling in an avoidable tragedy. Just beside him, a grief-stricken Kalyani Devi waited with her family for a trace of her brother-in-law, Laxman of Darbhanga, who hadn’t been seen since the incident. As the day wore on, his wife and four children—who were also present on the spot—grew more anxious, fearing that he may have died.
Kalyani minced no words when asked about her thoughts on the prolonged clearance operation: “It’s been more than 24 hours since the incident, and the clearance work is still not over. Those trapped under the debris must have died by now.”
Speaking to this newspaper, area councilor from AAP Rafia Mahir claimed that even though she had repeatedly raised the issue of illegal construction in the locality with MCD officials and the civic body’s standing committee, but no action was taken by them in this regard.
She alleged, “Neither was the building given a work-stop notice, nor was it booked.” She also questioned the civic body’s ability to conduct structural safety assessments, claiming that it lacked structural engineers.
“They don’t have a structural engineer. What do you expect? Will they address the problems?” she expressed. Further, locals claimed that five to six people were still suspected to be trapped inside, though there was no confirmation.
Meanwhile, the everyday life in the neighbourhood has come to a standstill. Shahdab, who runs an electrical and welding shop, said traders had received no information from the MCD about any proposed safety audits of surrounding buildings. He said civic officials had only visited the area on the previous day for preliminary checks.
The MCD had on Thursday said in a detailed incident report that a survey of the adjacent buildings was initiated to assess their structural safety and facilitate safety audits.
Abid Ahmed, another local, said, “Fear has spread in the area. Many traders have been unable to open their shops.” Echoing that sentiment, Firhad, a shopkeeper, said, “Those living in the neighbourhood were relatively less affected, but people coming from outside to run their businesses have been unable to access their shops.”
Pall of gloom descends on kin of victims, residents
The brother of one of the victims, Sanjeet, is stilling trying to come to terms with the loss of his 35-year-old sibling in an avoidable tragedy. Just beside him, a grief-stricken Kalyani Devi waited with her family for a trace of her brother-in-law, Laxman of Darbhanga, who hadn’t been seen since the incident. As the day wore on, his kin grew more anxious
