New Delhi, Sep 7 : The collapse of a four-decade-old building in Satya Niketan, here has been raising serious questions about illegal construction, poor safety checks and the unsafe conditions in which many students are forced to live.
According to officials, preliminary information points to unauthorized construction and renovation work at the ground floor and basement which might have weakened the building’s structure adding to that heavy monsoon rains and waterlogging might also worsen the situation with waterlogging.
At least Six people were killed when a five-storeyed building housing college students collapsed on Sunday (September 6, 2026) in South West Delhi’s Satya Niketan, a dense hub for paying guest or PG accommodation near Delhi University‘s South Campus, according to media reports.
The incident also shows the major gap between building rules and their implementation. A small residential plot of around 55 square yards was reportedly developed into a ground-plus-five-floor building and used as a high-density student PG.
“The serious questions about how such construction was allowed to continue for so many years. A structure built for limited residential use was being used to accommodate a large number of students,” an official said.
The tragedy also left many families desperately searching for their loved ones. One of the missing students was Pawan, who had reportedly moved into the PG less than a month earlier.
The situation became even more painful when students trapped under the rubble started using their mobile phones to send SOS messages and make video calls. Their calls gave families and rescue teams information about what was happening inside the collapsed building.
Delhi Police, Delhi Fire Service, the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and other agencies took part in the rescue operation. Eleven people were reportedly rescued, but six people lost their lives.
Delhi has witnessed several other incidents involving unsafe buildings and student housing. In 2024, three civil service aspirants died after drowning in a flooded basement in Old Rajinder Nagar. In May 2026, a building collapse in Saidulajab reportedly killed six people.
Earlier, the Supreme Court-constituted Monitoring Committee has also raised concerns about residential properties being used for mixed or commercial purposes without adequate attention to fire safety and occupancy limits.
