Laying the blame on the Delhi Jal Board, the South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC) will be filing an FIR against the water utility over last week’s building collapse in Vishnu Garden where six people were killed.
The Standing Committee of the SDMC ordered the Commissioner to have an FIR lodged in the matter, as it blamed the DJB’s sewer-laying work in the area for weakening the four-storey building’s foundation.
“It appears that the building’s foundation had been weakened as water had been seeping in due to the DJB’s digging in the vicinity. An FIR should be filed in the matter,” said Standing Committee chairperson Radhey Shyam Sharma.
The Vishnu Garden locality, which comes under the SDMC’s West Zone, is an unauthorised colony that has been regularised. According to West Zone Deputy Commissioner K.K. Dahiya, the DJB did not have permission from the SDMC to dig up the road to lay pipes.
“The DJB did ask for permission in August 2014 and submitted a cheque of Rs.5 lakh as deposit to begin the work. But, no permission was granted and the cheque was returned,” said Mr. Dahiya.
He added that the son of the building’s owner had told him that an additional, illegally built, floor was added to the structure about six to eight months ago.
“Even if the construction was poor, the top two floors would have tilted. But, since the building collapsed it appears that it was due to the weak foundation, which was most likely due to the water accumulating there,” said Mr. Dahiya, adding that recent rain made the building weaker. Commissioner Puneet Kumar Goel had suspended three engineers on Sunday for not acting against unauthorised construction at the site, and initiated an inquiry. The report of the inquiry is expected within a week.
While the BJP leaders in the SDMC blamed the DJB, the Opposition Congress hit out against the ruling party.
“In a way, we are all responsible for the six deaths. The BJP and the Aam Aadmi Party are stuck in a blame game. But, how did the DJB dig up the road without permission? Who allowed the work to take place just before the monsoon,” asked Leader of Opposition Farhad Suri.
