New Delhi: The Municipal Corporation of Delhi has suspended two of its building department engineers with immediate effect following the catastrophic collapse of a three-storey commercial building in south Delhi’s Saidulajab area. The structural failure, which occurred on Saturday near the Saket Metro station, has claimed four lives and triggered a massive multi-agency rescue operation.
According to an official directive issued by the Deputy Commissioner of the MCD’s South Zone, Assistant Engineer Sudesh Chouhan and Junior Engineer Aman Jain have been placed under suspension pending a thorough inquiry into gross administrative lapses. The disciplinary order explicitly cited Chouhan for a complete lack of effective supervisory oversight and general slackness regarding building regulations, while Jain was suspended for direct dereliction of duties and operational slackness in monitoring the ill-fated property.
The building, situated on the busy Western Marg stretch, was a prominent commercial hub housing a competitive coaching institute, local cafes, and corporate offices. Investigators revealed that unauthorized construction work was actively underway on the structure’s upper floor when it gave way. Deputy Commissioner of Police Anant Mittal stated that the building was entirely reduced to rubble, sending heavy concrete debris crashing directly onto an adjoining tin-shed canteen. The canteen was a popular spot routinely frequented by students preparing for rigorous medical entrance examinations.
Following the collapse, a large-scale rescue operation was mobilized on a war footing, with personnel from the National Disaster Response Force, Delhi Fire Service, Delhi Disaster Management Authority, and local police volunteers working seamlessly through the night to clear the wreckage. While several trapped individuals were successfully extricated from the debris and shifted to nearby medical facilities, the death toll officially rose to four on Sunday. Local municipal authorities have initiated a comprehensive structural inquiry, though the precise technical cause of the sudden collapse is still being determined by forensic experts.
