'Served notice and asked police to stop the work but it went on'

New Delhi: Taking stock of the tragic building collapse in Satya Niketan, the South Delhi Municipal Corporation on Monday evening said that the renovation being carried out there was dangerous and that the police had been asked to stop the work, despite which it continued. South Delhi Mayor Mukesh Suryan said that the civic body was launching a probe into the incident now.

The building was an old construction, of 90 sq yards approximately with ground to third floors. The building owner was adding onto the already existing construction when the property collapsed. SDMC field staff reported that the building was around 25 years old. The civic body had issued notice to the owner regarding the additional construction on March 31 and police authorities were requested on 11 April to stop the work. Despite that, the owner of the property continued work and the building collapsed.

A senior fire officer also corroborated this and said the building was in no condition to undergo renovations.

"We found out through local inquiry that the said building was being renovated to convert it into a PG accommodation. So, they must have broken some structure for this purpose which led to the collapse," he said.

"It has also been found that there was no proper building plan. It was not a planned construction and was also not approved by the concerned authorities," he added.

After the collapse, senior MCD officials and mayor Suryan visited the site to take stock of the situation and Suryan said that they will also probe the matter.