Delhi building collapse: Students face safety concerns, limited options

The brokers have as though disappeared overnight. Their shops are shut. Other than that, everything appears to have gone back to normal at Satya Niketan, the residential hub in New Delhi where a five-storey building came crashing down on September 6, killing seven people, among them students. But a question to a broker, who rents a floor of his building to students, indicates that this sense of normalcy is, perhaps, only on the surface: “Sir, is the building where we live safe?”

The question comes from a student. Others, too, have it on their minds even as they try to go about their daily routines: College, classes, and cafe breaks with friends, before retreating to their rented accommodations for which they pay Rs 15,000-20,000.

“Our parents have been calling us. They are anxious and want us back home, or at least shifting elsewhere,” says Ansh Agarwal, a second-year BA student from Motilal Nehru College, Delhi University (DU). “But we are in the middle of the session. How can we shift? We are living in the belief that our building will not fall.”

Anand Kumar, who lets out part of the building where he lives, says some students are choosing to leave. “I understand their concern,” he adds. “But then how can I guarantee the safety of the buildings, including my own, which I bought in resale.”

It’s not as though the students are spoilt for choice. Hostel rooms are few and far between, and most paying guest accommodations barely meet basic standards.

That said, some students have started exploring nearby areas such as Vasant Gaon, Moti Bagh, Munirka, and Ber Sarai. Sunil Aggarwal, a broker in Vasant Gaon, has been flooded with calls from students wanting to move out of Satya Niketan. “And this is not even the admission season,” he says. Many are requesting “newly constructed” buildings, few of which are available, he adds.

But then these areas, too, aren’t anything to write home about, students say. They are more affordable than Satya Niketan, but that’s about it. “We can get a room for Rs 4,000-5,000 less, which is a lot of money for us,” says Bharat Jha, a first-year BA student from Rajasthan. These areas are a few kilometres away from the campus. The infrastructure is wanting and food options are limited. “When it rains, the roads get flooded. For food, we depend on tiffin services,” says a student.

That’s why places like Satya Niketan, which is like an extension of the campus, are preferred. “We have our friends here; food’s easily available; and we can stroll in the lanes. Living away from home, such a place helps us stay connected with one another,” says a student.

In 2024-25, for when data is last available, Delhi University had 2,51,474 regular students. Together, the hostels at DU-affiliated colleges had a capacity of less than 7,000. That’s 2.7 per cent of the total student strength. In South campus, which has 18-20 colleges scattered across several kilometres, only three offer on-campus hostels.