Court deadlines, repeated warnings: 6 years on, Delhi’s building safety audits remain far from complete

THe burst of a edifice in Saidulajab that killed captain hicks people on sat has erst 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.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.Also read | Building that collapsed in Delhi's Saidulajab was ‘booked’ by MCD, but no action takenDelhi 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.6 year later, compliance remains limitedIn 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.Also read | Delhi’s fragile foundation: Repeated house collapses, unchecked expansion of the cityThe 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.”Arpit Bhargava, the petitioner in the case, said civic agencies have repeatedly made promises before the court but delivered little on the ground.“Accountability has to be fixed to prevent these avoidable deaths. The administration does not appear serious. They do not even have enough empanelled structural engineers. In 2019, the government promised a five-year action plan. Then a six-month deadline was fixed in 2020, but six years later very little has changed,” he said.According to the latest action-taken report submitted before the high court, the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) identified 4,762 high-risk and old structures across the city. Notices were issued in 4,571 cases, but structural audit reports were received in only 1,155 cases. Demolition action was taken in 56 cases and retrofitting carried out in just 47 buildings.The figures highlight the vast gap between identifying dangerous structures and making them safe.A senior MCD official associated with the court-mandated exercise said the scale of the challenge is particularly acute in unauthorised colonies and older neighbourhoods.“In many cases, notices are issued but people do not respond. If we take stronger measures such as disconnecting utilities, there is public resistance. The scale of non-compliant construction is enormous, especially in unauthorised colonies and parts of the Walled City,” the official said.The official added that authorities may have to prioritise buildings with large public occupancy. “Government buildings, high-rises, educational institutions and other large structures should be covered first under retrofitting and safety programmes,” he said.Bhargava, however, argued that authorities have continued to seek more time without significant progress. “In 2023, agencies told the court that a policy decision would be taken. Nothing happened. Schools and hospitals were supposed to be audited within three months, but there was no follow-up,” he said.Another senior MCD official noted that the court-monitored exercise largely concerns legally constructed buildings, while the larger challenge lies in dealing with unauthorised structures.“The problem of ensuring safety in illegal buildings is much bigger. At present, we focus on identifying dangerous or visibly leaning structures. Comprehensive retrofitting and seismic compliance across the city is a far larger exercise,” the official said.The challenge is magnified by the sheer number of buildings in Delhi. The city is estimated to have more than 5 million buildings, many of which were developed without adherence to planning and building regulations. The Tejendra Khanna Committee, set up in 2006 to examine unauthorised construction, had found that between 70% and 80% of structures in the city violated building norms.