North Delhi building tilts repeatedly over years, residents allege civic apathy

A residential building in North Delhi’s Nehru Vihar has tilted multiple times over nearly a decade, allegedly due to a faulty sewer line, with residents claiming that civic authorities have failed to carry out permanent repairs.

“The building started tilting because of a faulty sewer line. It was demolished and rebuilt once. Within a couple of years, it developed the same problem again,” a resident said in a statement on Tuesday while speaking to the media.

The resident said the structure, which is not more than eight years old, had been demolished and reconstructed more than once, most recently around three years ago, but the tilt had recurred.

“We keep complaining but no one listens. Before this, no government body — neither the Jal Board nor the MCD — carried out proper maintenance,” the resident alleged.

The resident further alleged that at least 400 dwellings in the nearby F Block of Gandhi Vihar were tilting in one direction or another.

The Delhi Jal Board and the Municipal Corporation of Delhi did not immediately respond to queries.

The issue has come into focus following the collapse of a five-storey building in south Delhi’s Satya Niketan on Sunday, in which at least seven people were killed and five others injured.

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The incident has renewed concerns over illegal construction and the condition of dilapidated buildings in the city.

MCD officials said the building adjoining the collapsed structure in Satya Niketan, which had been declared dangerous, was being evacuated as it housed a girls’ PG and students had left their belongings inside.

“The students had already left the building. They are just collecting their possessions,” an MCD official said.

Officials added that the controlled demolition of Building No. 13 would commence soon.