Even as the Delhi Police registered a case against the owner and builder of the multi-storey residential structure that collapsed in the congested Chandni Mahal area of Old Delhi on Tuesday, the death toll in the incident rose to seven on Wednesday.
Following investigations, the police have registered a case under Section 304 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) of the Indian Penal Code against building owner Anil and builder Jalaluddin alias Jalal. Anil is a resident of Chandni Mahal and Jalal is a resident of Sitaram Bazar.
With allegations of overlooking illegal construction in Old Delhi against the Municipal Corporation of Delhi too gaining ground, Municipal Commissioner K. S. Mehra on Wednesday directed the civic body's Director of Vigilance to submit a detailed report on the incident within three days.
In addition, the MCD has also decided to issue guidelines for implementation of the building plan sanctioning process in special areas which were provided exemption from the same till the notification to remove their exemption was brought into effect on January 17. Special areas include the Walled City where the incident took place, Walled City extension, Karol Bagh, unauthorised regularised colonies and villages.
MCD spokesperson Deep Mathur said: “On Tuesday, the Commissioner had directed Deputy Commissioner (City Zone) to conduct an inquiry and submit a comprehensive report. But now taking into consideration the magnitude of the issue, he has entrusted the work of inquiry to the Director Vigilance. He has also directed him to inquire into the role of the builder and the MCD officials.”
The matter was also discussed at the meeting of the Standing Committee when several councillors blamed the nexus between MCD officials and local police as well as the “builder mafia” for the incident.
Addressing the meeting Deputy Commissioner (City Zone) Krishan Kumar said: “As per the findings of the preliminary report, construction of a gate was being carried out in the building while in the adjacent building digging and construction work was on in the basement. We had issued a ‘stop work' notice to the latter on September 16 for illegal construction and had also taken the local police to the spot for its inspection but no follow up was done.”
Mr. Mehra said: “The comprehensive report to be submitted will cover detailed aspects such as the notice was given by whom and to whom, what was done to implement it and who was responsible for it. Based on the answers in this report, action would be taken against defaulting persons or the officials.”
MCD Standing Committee chairman Yogendra Chandolia said building by-laws for special areas have been prepared as per Master Plan for Delhi-2021 and the building plans in these areas would now be sanctioned according to the guidelines issued on Wednesday for implementation of the January 17 notification brought out earlier.
Meanwhile, with rescue operations over, work of debris removal was on in full swing on Wednesday. It was being done jointly by the Civil Defence, National Disaster Response Force, local police and MCD officials.
