NEW DELHI: A day after a five-storey building collapsed in Satya Niketan, killing six people, the Municipal Corporation of Delhi has ordered the demolition of an adjoining property after finding it to be in a “ruinous/dangerous condition”.The neighbouring building was vacated over safety concerns and is set to be demolished on Monday, officials said. Residents are being shifted to a nearby community hall.The MCD issued a demolition notice for Property No. 13, Satya Niketan, directing the owner or occupier to demolish the structure within three days. The civic body said the occupied premises were found to be in a dangerous condition and posed a risk to its occupants and people in the neighbourhood.The order, issued by the Executive Engineer (Building)-I, South Zone, under Section 348 of the Delhi Municipal Corporation Act, 1957, read with Section 491, warned that if the owner failed to comply within the stipulated period, the MCD would carry out the demolition and recover the expenses as arrears of tax.An MCD official said the adjoining structure had serious structural deficiencies, including the absence of a proper beam structure.“Considering the safety risk, the neighbouring building has been vacated and is being demolished on Monday. The residents are being shifted to a nearby community hall,” the official said.The official also alleged negligence on the part of the owner of the collapsed building, who lives in Gurgaon and owns another property in the area.The action comes after a five-storey building housing a student paying guest accommodation collapsed in Satya Niketan on Sunday. The death toll rose to six after another body was recovered during late-night rescue operations.Rescue teams from the National Disaster Response Force, Delhi Fire Service, Delhi Police and other agencies continued searches through the debris, using sniffer dogs to locate anyone who may still be trapped.Mayor Pravesh Wahi, who inspected the site, said the collapsed building was more than four decades old and had two rooms on each floor in a ground-plus-four-storey structure. He said 13 students were registered as paying guests in the building.A senior MCD official said the collapsed structure violated the prescribed height limit of 17.5 metres. Authorities are also examining whether seepage caused by incessant rain, repair work or possible structural activity in the basement or ground floor contributed to the collapse.Police are meanwhile probing allegations that illegal construction or renovation work was underway in the basement and ground floor when the building collapsed. An FIR has been registered against the owner and others, while investigators are examining ownership records and possible violations.
