Delhi authorities announce relief after fatal Chawri Bazar building collapse

Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta has announced ex-gratia compensation of Rs 10 lakh for the next of kin of the seven people killed in a building collapse near the Chawri Bazar metro station in Old Delhi. The incident involved a three-storey under-construction building in Gali Sheesh Mahal, where unauthorized construction on the upper floors is suspected to have caused the structure to fail.

Police have arrested three contractors, identified as Siraj, Tajuddin, and Furkan, in connection with the collapse. Rescue operations faced significant difficulties due to the location, which is situated at the end of a narrow, three-foot-wide lane inaccessible to motorized vehicles and heavy machinery.

A Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) survey revealed that the City SP zone, which covers much of Old Delhi, contains 54% of the capital’s identified repairable properties. While 553 repairable properties were identified across the city, 298 were located within this specific zone, despite the zone representing only 2.9% of the total houses surveyed.