Building collapse: NHRC issues notices to Delhi government, MCD

NEW DELHI - The Delhi government and the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) have been issued notices by the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) over the collapse of a five-storey building in east Delhi in which at least 69 people were killed and several injured, a NHRC statement said Friday.

“The commission has taken suo motu cognisance of media reports on the building collapse in Laxmi Nagar on Nov 15. Allegedly the MCD has served notices to 38 buildings with flooded basements and asked the residents to vacate within 24 hours, even as there is a blame game in the MCD over illegal constructions,” the statement said.

“No official is willing to comment how illegal floors were allowed to be constructed in the building that collapsed. The MCD has no record, with the earliest record dating to 1971 when it was just a one-room apartment,” it added.

On the issue, the information commissioner in 2009 had said that four-storey buildings had come up in the area without anyone even applying for approval.

“Therefore the commission has issued a notice to Delhi Chief Secretary Rakesh Mehta and the MCD Commissioner K.S. Mehra and has asked for a report on the matter within four weeks,” the statement said.

The notice seeks information on what action is going to be taken against the errant officials, what action is proposed for the safety of the people in the 38 unsafe buildings and what action is taken for the treatment of the survivors and the ex-gratia payment to the kin of the dead.