The Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) is set to launch a dedicated portal for registration of paying guest (PG) accommodations in the coming days, with the civic body working on the technical framework for the proposed platform, an official said on Monday.
The portal, which could be operational in October, will act as an housing database being developed as part of efforts to bring PG accommodations under a more structured system of registration and monitoring following the fatal building collapse in Satya Niketan earlier this month.
The proposed portal is expected to contain basic information about PG properties and their occupants. The database is likely to cover both students and working professionals staying in PG accommodations.
The civic body is currently working on the technical aspects of the system and will be launched in coming days, the official said.
The platform is also likely to have a public-facing component through which people looking for PG accommodation can search for establishments by location and access details such as address, availability and contact information.
The move comes in the wake of the September 6 collapse of a five-storey PG building in Satya Niketan, which left seven people including five DU students dead and prompted the authorities to step up inspections of PG accommodations across the city.
Recently MCD has undertaken a survey of PG buildings on court orders. It has identified at least 2,453 PG buildings across the city, with 32,247 rooms and approximately 50,529 occupants.
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According to the MCD, of these 2,453 buildings, only four have been deemed visibly “dangerous.” In the past 17 days, the civic body has taken demolition action against 543 properties and sealed another 178 for unauthorised construction.
Following the incident, the Delhi government announced plans for a broader regulatory mechanism for PG establishments, including registration and a centralised system to maintain information on such accommodations.
The authorities have since intensified action against unsafe PG buildings, with inspections, sealing and demolition of structures being carried out in different parts of the city as part of efforts to prevent a recurrence of the tragedy.
