Delhi: Safety audit of PGs stokes uncertainty over stay as authorities seal unauthorised buildings

New Delhi, Sep 9 (PTI) A city-wide safety survey of paying guest accommodations (PGs) following the Satya Niketan building collapse has left students in a lurch over their stay, as civic authorities seal and demolish unauthorised structures across the capital.

Aditya, a student at Delhi University's South Campus, is among those temporarily staying in classrooms after his PG in Chirag Delhi was sealed by the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) amid the ongoing survey.

He said he is staying on the Shaheed Bhagat Singh College premises with other students facing similar situations -- their accommodations sealed Tuesday night in the wake of the crackdown.

As classrooms turn temporary shelters, Aditya said students are struggling to find suitable accommodation at short notice. Many are also worried about the rising cost of PGs, and whether the buildings they move into next would meet safety requirements.

Delhi Home Minister Ashish Sood said after cracks appeared in a dilapidated building in Chirag Delhi, the Delhi government took swift pre-emptive action, evacuating the students and making immediate arrangements for their stay.

At Laxmi Nagar's Shree Shyam PG, however, students said they have not faced any major problems with the accommodation so far, even as the ongoing inspections have made them think more closely about building safety and emergency arrangements.

Rahul, who has been staying at the PG for around two-and-a-half years, said he pays Rs 3,500 in monthly rent and has found the facilities satisfactory. However, the Satya Niketan building collapse has made him question whether the accommodation he lives in is safe.

"There is always a fear because we never know what may go wrong. This safety audit should have happened earlier, before an accident," he said.

Another student said the inspections have raised concerns about what would happen if they were asked to vacate their PG. "If we are being asked to vacate now, where will we go? Finding another place at such short notice is not easy, and we also do not know whether the next building will be safe."

Laxmi Nagar resident Mohammad Salman Siddiqui, an interior designer, said his family has been very concerned since the Satya Niketan tragedy. "My family members keep asking whether my PG is safe, as they have never visited the accommodation themselves."

The MCD, on the other hand, has initiated safety checks of buildings housing PGs across the city.

Arvind, a junior engineer in the Laxmi Nagar building department, said officials are surveying the accommodations to ascertain whether they are compliant with safety and other statutory requirements.

"We are checking whether the buildings have fire NOC (no-objection certificate), their age, number of entry and exit points, payment of conversion charges, and whether owners have the required licence to run PGs," he said.

The civic body has asked PG owners to submit the requisite documents within three days.

Arvind said if owners fail to provide the documents, their buildings would be sealed as part of the exercise to identify unauthorised and potentially unsafe accommodations.

In Uttam Nagar, junior engineer Abhishek Pandey said the civic body has initiated demotion of an unauthorised building. The structure, which was under construction, comprised a stilt and four floors and was not occupied.

Another unauthorised structure was demolished in Geeta Colony Wednesday.

Gulshan Kumar, who lives in the area, said the building had developed a tilt and other structural issues, following which residents called labourers to demolish the building themselves before the MCD arrived.

The demolition drive follows the collapse of a five-storey boys' PG in south Delhi's Satya Niketan on September 6, which killed seven people and injured five.

The tragedy prompted the Delhi government to order a city-wide survey of PG accommodations.

The MCD on Tuesday began controlled demolition of an adjoining building that had been declared dangerous after the Satya Niketan collapse.

The structure housed a girls' PG and was evacuated following the collapse of the neighbouring building, an official said.