Two people were killed after a portion of an old building collapsed during alleged roof replacement work in northeast Delhi’s Harsh Vihar area, triggering an overnight rescue operation involving the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), Delhi Police, fire services and other agencies, officials said on Monday.
The incident occurred at A-4, Milan Garden, near Seva Dham Road in Mandoli Extension, on Sunday evening. The deceased were identified as Chanderpal (60) and his son Vijay Kumar (33), both residents of Gali No. 14 in Harsh Vihar. They were pulled out from beneath the debris and rushed to GTB Hospital, where doctors declared them brought dead, police said.
The tragedy has raised questions about the safety of renovation work in old buildings and the precautions taken before replacing existing roofs with reinforced cement concrete (RCC) slabs.
According to the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD), the building was approximately 25 years old and comprised a ground floor with an RCC slab and a first floor with a roof made of T-iron supports and stone slabs.
A preliminary local inquiry by the civic body indicated that the owner was carrying out work to replace the existing first-floor roof with an RCC slab while retaining the same level and using the old brick walls. The work was reportedly being undertaken during the long weekend.
The MCD said the rear portion of the first floor apparently collapsed during the work and fell onto the ground-floor roof, causing that portion to collapse as well. The front portion of the building remained standing, according to the civic body’s report.
The exact cause of the collapse is yet to be established and will be subject to further investigation.
No prior complaint received, says MCD
In its preliminary report, the MCD said no complaint regarding the building or the renovation work had been received by its office before the incident, including through the police, control room or other sources.
The civic body also stated that the property had three entrance gates and the main gate was closed when rescue teams arrived. The gates had to be broken open to facilitate access to the affected portion. No building material was found outside the property during the rescue operation, it said.
The absence of a prior complaint, however, does not by itself establish whether the renovation work complied with applicable building safety requirements. The circumstances surrounding the work and the structural failure remain under investigation.
Overnight rescue operation
The collapse was reported to Harsh Vihar police station at 6.46 pm on Sunday. Police teams reached the spot, followed by fire service personnel, ambulances, Civil Defence volunteers and an NDRF team.
Rescue personnel worked through the night to reach those trapped beneath the collapsed structure. The operation involved carefully removing heavy debris from the damaged building, where the collapsed roof and structural material had fallen onto the floor below.
The deaths of the father and son have cast a pall of grief over their neighbourhood, where a routine day turned into a desperate search for two lives buried beneath concrete, stone and brick.
The police said legal action under relevant provisions of law was being initiated and further investigation was underway.
The MCD said that after the NDRF completed its search and confirmed that no person remained trapped beneath the debris, work to remove the rubble and other material continued at the site.
The incident once again underlines the risks associated with structural alterations in ageing buildings, particularly when existing roofs are replaced without adequate precautions. The findings of the investigation will be crucial in establishing what caused the collapse and whether any safety norms were violated.
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