Illegal construction claims more lives in Delhi

At least five people died and around 30 people were hospitalized with injuries when a residential building in the Chandni Mahal area of Old Delhi collapsed late Tuesday.

Locals say that the collapse occurred because of rampant illegal construction in the area, according to the Hindu. Possible modifications to the structure to allow it to accommodate more tenants may also have been a factor.

Following a similar building collapse that killed more than 60 people in November of last year, the incident is another deadly reminder of the human cost of corruption in the allotment of construction certificates.

"It was a tragedy waiting to happen, but I did not know that it will destroy so many lives,” the Hindu quoted one of the victims as saying.

“I was near the building when it collapsed. I heard a loud rumbling sound and because four members of my family – Fatima (mother), two brothers Naseer and Firoz and sister Tabsasum — live there, I ran towards the building only to find rubble and dust all around. People were running helter-skelter and screaming. All the four were buried under the debris and were pulled out and brought to the hospital. I don't have any news about their health condition. There is rampant illegal construction happening in the area. Since this was an old building we knew that it wasn't strong, we knew it would collapse someday because of the illegal construction around it. But I had no idea that it would injure my entire family,'' she said.

Delhi Mayor Rajni Abbi blamed rampant illegal construction in the area responsible for the tragedy, saying: “The MCD [Municipal Corporation of Delhi] isn't carrying out construction in the area it is the people who are doing it and despite several warnings asking them to stop this illegal activity we haven't received favorable response from them. We will look into the incident.”