Delhi: Tree, two unplanned floors may have contributed to Ashok Vihar collapse

The North Delhi Municipal Corporation probe will also focus on how the building department allowed extra floors to be added four-five years ago, without any scientific planning or keeping in mind construction norms, even though the area was regularised.

According to MCD rules, maps for buildings that are less than 106 square yards do not need approval. Instead, a self-declaration of ownership and layout plan of the building have to be submitted to the corporation, and junior engineers and assistant engineers are supposed to check for any violation of the plan.

Another civic body official said, “If extra floors come up in a regularised area without following the norms, which has been the case here, the accountability lies with officials of the building department.”

Seven people — four children, two women and a man — died while five were injured when the five-storey residential building collapsed on Wednesday.

“On inquiring with local residents and police, we have learnt that the building was in a dilapidated condition and was already tilting to one side towards the tree, which had been supporting its weight,” he said.

An official explained the collapse was different from other ones, where the ground floor generally remains intact.

“The tree may have spread its roots through the foundation… There had been continuous rains over the last two weeks, which might have further weakened it,” he said.

Member of the standing committee, Vikas Goel, said two floor of the building were constructed 20 years ago, but two more came up without planning in the last five years. “Blaming a tree is an easy way out because a tree can never be punished for a crime… the fact is that such buildings cannot come up in this colony. It is the duty of officials to ensure that,” he said.

“Since extra floors were built after the colony was regularised, it is a failure of the civic body’s building department,” he said.