NEW DELHI: Days after seven people were killed in the Satya Niketan building collapse, the Supreme Court-appointed amicus curiae Tuesday urged the court to order a time-bound safety audit of PG accommodations, private hostels, and other student housing in and around colleges and universities across Delhi.
In a status report, Senior Advocate Ajit Kumar Sinha, the amicus curiae in the matter, said that though the top court is already seized of the issue and has constituted a committee to inspect buildings in Lajpat Nagar, Saket, and Malviya Nagar, “Satya Niketan did not fall within the scope of the inspection”.
The report, filed through Advocate Govind Jee, pointed out that Satya Niketan, located near Delhi University South Campus, has “emerged as a major hub for student accommodation, with a large number of PG accommodations, hostels, messes, eateries and other commercial establishments operating in the area.”
“The present incident is also required to be viewed in the context of an earlier building collapse in Satya Niketan in April 2022, in which two persons lost their lives, and four others were injured. The recurrence of such an incident in the same locality raises serious concerns regarding the effectiveness of the existing mechanism for inspection, identification of dangerous structures and enforcement of building bye-laws.”
The report said the Satyaniketan accident also needs to be seen in the context of the “larger concentration of PG accommodations and private hostels in areas surrounding colleges and universities in Delhi”. “Such establishments are often operated from residential properties which may have undergone additions, alterations or changes in use”.
“The extent to which such premises comply with sanctioned building plans, applicable building bye-laws, permissible land use, structural safety requirements and fire-safety norms requires verification by the competent authorities.”
“In these circumstances, it would be appropriate that the inspection exercise be extended beyond the areas “presently identified by the Supreme Court, and that authorities concerned “undertake a time-bound inspection and safety audit of PG accommodations, private hostels and similar student-accommodation establishments situated in and around colleges and universities across Delhi.”
We are a multimedia news network. Website : www.7xnews.com Based in New Delhi (India)
Youtube : umakantlakheraspeaks@gmail.com
