New Delhi: Magisterial inquiries into a series of deadly building collapses and fires in Delhi have repeatedly flagged regulatory failures, negligence and lapses by multiple govt agencies. The subsequent actions, however, have largely been directed at junior govt officials and engineers, even in cases where the probes have pointed to failures involving institutional processes, such as licensing, inspection, monitoring and enforcement.
A similar gap emerged after the blaze at a bed-and-breakfast establishment in Malviya Nagar on June 3, which killed 23 people. A magisterial probe into the May 3 fire at a four-storey residential building in Vivek Vihar Phase I, which claimed nine lives, identified lapses by MCD, fire services and Electrical Inspectorate, besides pointing to unauthorised overhead cables that hampered rescue operations. A magisterial inquiry found serious irregularities in the licensing, inspection and monitoring of the B&B and identified lapses by at least four authorities — Delhi Police, MCD, Delhi govt’s tourism department and BSES Rajdhani Power Ltd. A day after Sunday’s Satya Niketan building collapse, five MCD South Zone officials, including the deputy commissioner, superintending engineer, executive engineer (building), assistant engineer (building) and junior engineer (building), were suspended, while a magisterial inquiry was ordered.
The pattern is evident in the case of the May 30 building collapse near Saket Metro station that claimed six lives, five of them young doctors.
A magisterial inquiry that followed held Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) “negligent” as it had “failed” to enforce building bylaws, and concluded that the disaster was preventable. It stated that the collapse was primarily caused by unauthorised structural additions, including illegal third and fourth floors, to the building combined with inadequate regulatory enforcement.