Satya Niketan building collapse: Amicus urges SC to expand safety inspections to PGs, private hostels across Delhi

Following the September 6 building collapse in South Delhi’s Satya Niketan that claimed the lives of seven students, the Supreme Court-appointed amicus curiae has urged the court to expand its ongoing inspection exercise to PG accommodations, private hostels, and similar student housing establishments across Delhi.

The Supreme Court had earlier directed inspection of buildings in Lajpat Nagar, Saket, and Malviya Nagar amid concerns over unauthorised and unsafe constructions, but Satya Niketan was not covered by that exercise.

The amicus curiae and senior advocate Ajit Kumar Sinha highlighted in his report that the Satya Niketan incident assumes significance as the locality had witnessed another building collapse in April 2022, in which two people were killed and four injured.


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“The present incident is also required to be viewed in the context of an earlier building collapse in Satya Niketan in April 2022, in which two persons lost their lives, and four others were injured. The recurrence of such an incident in the same locality raises serious concerns regarding the effectiveness of the existing mechanism for inspection, identification of dangerous structures, and enforcement of building bye-laws”, the amicus report says.

The report further noted that construction-related work was being undertaken in or around the basement and that there were reports of waterlogging in the basement immediately before the latest collapse.

In light of these safety lapses, the amicus has sought a time-bound inspection and safety audit of PGs, private hostels and similar student-accommodation establishments around colleges and universities across Delhi, including checks on sanctioned building plans, actual construction and number of floors, basement construction and alterations, land use, structural and fire safety, ingress and egress, and dangerous or ruinous conditions.