Two ‘dangerous’ buildings demolished

Meanwhile,residents of the locality denied reports that they opposed municipal action to demolish other “dangerous” structures there. However,they said they were being subjected to administrative apathy as the people asked to vacate their houses have nowhere to go.

“We did not resist any attempt to demolish dangerous structures. In fact,the residents of Chandni Mahal are standing together in this trying time. No politician,MP or MLA,has cared to look this way to check if the residents are suffering. They only make appearances on TV,” said Salim Ashraf,a resident.

“There are many who have lost their houses and have nowhere to go. Quite a few are staying in my house,” he said.

Under security cover of the Delhi Police,MCD officials demolished house number 835-836 on Monday. House number 879-880 was also razed,residents said.

“The foundations were very old,but over four floors had been constructed here. Makaan toh dobaara ban jaayega,par insaan nahi bachega (a house can be built again,but you can’t get back a human life),” said Mohd Rizwan,another resident.

However,35-year-old Fahim was apprehensive. A resident of house number 837,adjacent to the structure that was demolished on Monday,he said: “Even though the MCD officials are doing a good job and are very careful,we fear that our structure might become weak with such hectic demolition action. What if our house falls because of this?

“But people are willingly vacating their houses here. It is always better to leave than to live in a structure that could come down anytime,” he said.

Meanwhile,20-year-old Saurabh,who is staying at his aunt’s house nearby,is still in a state of shock. He had managed to escape the collapse last Tuesday because he was away at work when the building came down.

His grandmother,70-year-old Munni Devi,died in the crash. His father Suresh (51) and elder brother Gaurav (21) were seriously injured and are recuperating at the Lok Nayak Hospital.

“My grandmother was our support… she was the one who used to do everything. She used to take care of my father,who is paralytic. He suffered fractures in the legs in the collapse. My brother is also getting operated on today. The doctors will be inserting rods in both his legs,” Saurabh said.

Meanwhile,the reshuffle in MCD included the appointment of two deputy commissioners,Deepak Hastir and A K Singh,as additional commissioners. Other deputy commissioners to be reshuffled included D N Singh,who was moved to Rohini Zone with Narela Zone as his additional charge,and Subhash Chandra from Rohini to City Zone.

Also,C R Garg was shifted from West to Najafgarh Zone,and J B Singh from Najafgarh to SP Zone.