New Delhi: More than three weeks after a five-storey PG facility collapsed in Satya Niketan, killing five students and two labourers, the neighbourhood is slowly slipping back into its familiar rhythm. Students can again be seen sharing meals at fast-food kiosks, sipping cold coffee or gathering over tea and cigarettes. But the pile of rubble where the building once stood remains a lingering sign of the tragedy.
For some students, proximity to colleges, 11-month rent agreements and the hassle of finding a decent flat bind them to the area. Because something bad happened, “I cannot just shift houses out of fear.
It’s not the same anymore,” said Pankaj, a cold-coffee kiosk owner. In the days after the collapse, while many packed their bags and left their PGs and flats, “some of us cannot afford to leave this place”, said Fiza Rizvi, a student of Maitreyi College who stays in a five-storey PG. Sarthak Singwal, a sixth-semester student of Sri Venkateshwara, told TOI he has decided to stay in Satya Niketan as he wants to focus on academics rather than spending time hunting for a flat. Future batches will be apprehensive of choosing to study here,” he said. A student of Jesus and Mary College, not wishing to be named, said Satya Niketan was the first location that popped up when she searched for PGs online.
Residents claimed the student population is slowly thinning out, with shopkeepers rueing their sales have fallen by half. “The streets of Satya Niketan used to feel like a mela every day. “We came to Delhi University with high hopes and expectations. A lot of places in Delhi are unsafe, so there is a lot to be considered before deciding anything. But I will definitely find a place somewhere else soon.”
Homeowners have also become wary of renting out their properties after the incident, according to a property dealer. “Given time, everything will go back to normal. The students have no choice but to come back here as, after all, Delhi University does not have enough hostels to accommodate them.”