Delhi Hostel Collapse: CJP Demands City-Wide Safety Audit of PG Accommodations
A five-storey hostel collapse in South Delhi kills five. CJP demands a safety audit of all PG hostels and accountability from authorities.
A day after a five-storey building housing students collapsed in South Delhi's Satya Niketan, the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) has demanded a comprehensive safety audit of all paying guest (PG) hostels across the national capital. The incident, which occurred on Sunday, has left at least five people dead, with several others feared trapped under the debris.
CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke criticised the government's focus on political infrastructure, arguing that students are being forced to live in unsafe conditions. He questioned Prime Minister Narendra Modi's priorities, noting that a visit to Delhi University a day prior focused on political rhetoric rather than the state of educational facilities.
"How long must students be made to pay the price for failing infrastructure?" Mr. Dipke asked in a post on X, demanding safe classrooms and hostels. He also highlighted the plight of Adivasi students in tribal regions, stating that even those studying in the capital are not safe.
A CJP team, led by Deepak Baliyan and Balakrishna Shukla, reached the site near Delhi University's South Campus to assist in rescue operations. The group stated that local residents had begun digging through the rubble with their bare hands before emergency services arrived.
The collapsed structure, named Hostel Daze, reportedly housed around 15 rooms with two to three students each. Many residents were enrolled at nearby colleges, including Motilal Nehru College and Sri Venkateswara College, and hailed from states such as Kerala, Haryana, and Uttar Pradesh. Locals noted that construction work was underway in the basement at the time of the collapse.
The CJP has called for a swift inquiry into municipal oversight of student accommodations and raised concerns about the structural safety of other buildings in the locality that have been converted into PGs. The party also pointed to the curtailment of Union Minister Amit Shah's Goa visit following the news of the crash, contrasting the attention given to party offices with the neglect of student housing.
Rescue operations are ongoing, with CJP volunteers pledging to remain at the site until all students are accounted for.