New Delhi: The students living in PGs in Satya Niketan, near Delhi University’s South Campus are slowly leaving their accommodation. This follows a building
collapse in the area, which happened on Sunday evening. The incident left at least 7 people dead and several others injured.
Backpacks, large trolley bags and suitcases are a common site in the narrow bylanes of Satya Niketan, following the incident, as students leave their PGs in the area. They are now looking for accommodation elsewhere and even calling their parents for help as their anxiety levels rise due to the recent building collapse in the area.
The students are clearly anxious regarding their safety as questions are now being raised about other adjacent buildings in the vicinity of the one that collapsed.
What do the students and their relatives say about staying at Satya Niketan?
According to a Times of India report, a man named Shakib who was helping one of his women relatives shift her belongings said that she was in the building adjacent to the one that collapsed. He said that she called him up after the building collapsed and they reached here within 2 hours.
Shakib said, “When we reached here, we saw her in a distressed condition. Her hands were shaking. That is when we decided that she won’t be able to live here anymore.”
Shakib added that he was taking the girl to his house in Malviya Nagar, where she would be safe.
Some other occupants of buildings nearby are staying in their colleges at night.
Students in the area said that several buildings in the area have been marked as unsafe. One of the buildings, adjacent to the one which collapsed was being vacated and being readied to be demolished. The activities have led the residents to question the safety of other buildings in the area as well. They said that while some had dangerous staircases, others had a ventilation problem.
However, just moving out due to safety concerns is not the only problem that students are facing. For some finances also come into play.
Rahul is a third-year student of DU’s Atma Ram Sanatan Dharma College. He is from Dehradun and his parents now want him to shift to some better and safer place. However, he said that he was paying Rs 8,000 for the room here in Satya Niketan. Though it had problems like poor ventilation, it was still affordable for him.
He said that he will move out of the room only if he gets something like a 1 BHK which is in his budget. He said that he would want to share that flat with a friend, so that he does not face financial burden.
Fiza, who is from Kanpur and is enrolled at Jesus and Mary College, lives just metres away from the building which collapsed. She said, “I heard a loud sound that day. When I came out, there was a crowd and huge piles of debris.” She said that her parents who live in Kanpur, may soon come to Delhi and would shift her to a different location.
Some students said that several PG owners removed hostel signboard from their buildings. This they did to avoid interrogation and inspection of their properties, added the students.
Meanwhile, the Delhi government has ordered an inspection of buildings across the city. The municipalities have already started the inspection and may soon order pulling down several unsafe buildings.
