Building on Vikas Marg tilts, evacuated

A Building on Vikas Marg in Laxmi Nagar, close to Lalita Park, was evacuated on Monday after the owner of an adjacent building complained that the structure was tilting to a side, causing cracks to appear on his building.

Following the complaint, the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) sent its officials to the area and a thorough survey was conducted of the entire building. While there appeared to be no imminent danger, the MCD evacuated the building in the evening.

B B Tyagi, chairperson of the City Zone Ward Committee, said he visited the area and found the building unsafe. “The building has been evacuated and will be under scrutiny for a week. After that, a decision will be taken on whether the building is to be demolished or strengthened,” he told Newsline.

The building in question — G53 — is 20 years old and faces the main road; it was being used for commercial purposes. Balwant Singh, the owner of the house adjacent to it, said the building started tilting towards his house in the last few months. Inside his house, the walls started developing cracks.

“A big crack formed a few months ago. I got it repaired but the problems have begun again,” he said. Both houses are located in a regularised colony, full of unsafe buildings constructed without following building bylaws. The building in Lalita Park that collapsed and led to the death of 71 people, was also flouting Delhi’s building bylaws. 

With the new case surfacing, the BJP and the Congress in the MCD began a blame game again on Monday. Leader of the Opposition Jai Kishan Sharma said the ruling BJP in the MCD has neglected taking action against such structures being raised in unauthorised colonies. Led by Sharma, Congress workers disrupted the House meeting on Monday, where they demanded that the probe report on the Lalita Park house collapse be submitted.