6 years after court deadline, safety audits remain elusive

The collapse of a building in Saidulajab that killed six people on Saturday has once again exposed Delhi’s long-running struggle to ensure structural safety in a city where millions live in buildings that have never undergone proper audits, despite years of court monitoring and repeated warnings about the widespread lack of building compliance.

- Paras Singh

The issue has been a recurring subject before the Delhi High Court, which has repeatedly examined the city's preparedness for earthquakes and the condition of ageing and unsafe buildings. Delhi falls in Seismic Zone IV, making it vulnerable to strong earthquakes, and the court has on multiple occasions expressed concern over delays in carrying out structural safety audits and retrofitting risky structures.

In June 2020, acting on court directions, the three erstwhile municipal corporations fixed a six-month deadline for obtaining structural safety certificates for high-risk buildings and structures constructed before seismic provisions were incorporated into Delhi's building by-laws. Nearly six years later, compliance remains limited.

The high court had remarked that “mere paperwork and consultations would not solve the eminent threat” that Delhi residents face. It added that only “actual work on ground” would come to rescue of the citizens. “We hope the respondents are conscious of the same, and some real work on the ground is undertaken to save the citizens from a possible catastrophe.”