New Delhi: The Delhi government has ordered a magisterial inquiry into a building collapse in northeast Delhi's Seemapuri area that killed four people earlier this month.
Delhi Home Minister Ashish Sood has directed the district magistrate of North-East Delhi to investigate the circumstances and exact cause of the collapse and determine whether any individuals or government officials were responsible for violations or negligence, an official statement said on Friday.
The four-to-five-storey residential building, located at house number E-402 in New Seemapuri, collapsed at around 3 p.m. on 7 October. It stood on a plot measuring approximately 20–25 square yards, the statement said.
A preliminary inquiry indicated that demolition work involving heavy machinery at an adjacent unauthorised construction site may have triggered the collapse through vibrations.
Three neighbouring structures also sustained major damage and were declared unsafe by the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD). They were subsequently evacuated.
The magisterial inquiry will examine possible violations of building regulations and safety standards by property owners, tenants, and private individuals. It will also investigate potential lapses by government departments and civic agencies.
The inquiry has been asked to recommend legal action against those found responsible and to examine the implementation of the Disaster Management Act, 2005. It will also suggest measures to prevent similar incidents in the future.
"This is a deeply tragic incident that has cost precious lives. We have ordered a magisterial inquiry to investigate every single aspect of this collapse. No guilty person or lax official will be spared. Our immediate priority is to support the affected families, and our long-term goal is to enforce strict structural safety rules so that such an accident never happens again in Delhi," Sood said.
On 8 October, Delhi Police revised the death toll to four after initially reporting that five bodies had been recovered from the debris.
Police said some body parts and remains recovered at the site were yet to be identified through DNA examination to establish whether they belonged to separate victims or people who had already been identified.
The deceased were identified as Gulafsa, 21, Haza Bibi, 56, Nusrat, 33, and a child aged around three to four years whose identity was yet to be established, police said.
Eight injured people were rescued and taken to Rajiv Gandhi Super Speciality Hospital in Tahirpur. Their condition was reported to be stable.