- 6 weeks ago
An India Today special investigation examines the fatal building collapse at a paying guest accommodation in Delhi's Satya Niketan that claimed seven lives. The First Information Report details how unauthorized floors were constructed on a weak foundation and pillars were dismantled during basement renovation amid heavy rain, leading to culpable homicide charges and the arrest of the owners. A reality check across Satya Niketan and adjoining areas reveals private PGs operating in cramped, hazardous structures with dampness, seepage, and inflated rents, alongside rigid lock-in periods and refused security deposit refunds. The incident has also brought Delhi University's acute hostel deficit to light, where over seven lakh enrolled students compete for merely seven to nine thousand hostel seats. As student organisations stage protests demanding safe housing and compensation for the deceased, civic authorities have initiated action by demolishing twenty-four PGs and sealing seven establishments.
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:06Beyond Satya Niketan
00:13A darker side of Delhi's PG business
00:18PG, their profit, your grief
00:26Students, safety for sale
00:33Delhi's PG Mafia caught on camera
00:40Satya Niketan is only the beginning
00:46The rot runs far deeper
00:53From paying guest to preying on guest
00:58Who profits from students' vulnerability
01:02India Today's Special Investigation
01:09Hello and welcome, good evening, you're watching NewsTrack here on India Today. I'm Akshra Tananda Gopal and as we just
01:14gave you a glimpse, coming up on this edition of NewsTrack is a special investigation.
01:19Days after the Delhi building collapse in which seven young lives were snuffed out, we're going to give you a
01:25sense of really what the state of these paying accommodations are, what these PG's look like and why these are
01:33debt traps. These are buildings where these kind of tragedies are waiting to happen. So that detailed special investigative report
01:42coming your way in this edition of NewsTrack.
01:45We're also, of course, getting you the latest updates on the FR that's been filed and the action that's been
01:50taken by the Delhi government in this particular case, in this building collapse.
01:55Even now, questions being raised on exactly who is to blame.
01:59Before I bring you the truth of the PG's that lie beyond the collapse site, let me first take you
02:05through what the FIR has revealed.
02:07The collapse of that PG hostel in Delhi's Satya Niketan is a grim tale of alleged greed. I'm not saying
02:15this, the FIR says so.
02:17According to the FIR, the owners, Hariram Gupta and his family, who, by the way, have been taken into custody,
02:23they allegedly added multiple floors to the nearly 50-year-old structure, essentially to earn more through rental income.
02:30No, they did not have the permits for it. This was a building that was already crumbling because of the
02:34old foundation, which the FIR mentions.
02:37It says the foundation was too weak to bear the additional load. Yet the building had grown from its original
02:43structure to a basement and multiple floors.
02:46And then the final blow on Sunday. Renovation work was underway in the basement. Workers were digging below while a
02:54load-bearing pillar was dismantled.
02:57There was heavy rain in Delhi. The worst time to be conducting this kind of construction work. And so the
03:03structure gave way.
03:05Several people were trapped beneath the debris. Seven eventually lost their lives.
03:09The investigation has invoked charges including culpable homicide, rash acts endangering life and negligence in construction against the building owner
03:17and his family.
03:19Hariram Gupta, his wife, Urmila Gupta, they've been sent to 14 days of judicial custody.
03:24Remember that they were taken into custody from Rajasthan. Their son, who allegedly ran this PG with his father, has
03:31been remanded to two days of police custody.
03:34And as the investigation continues, the Delhi government is looking beyond this one building.
03:39Unfortunately, it takes a tragedy like this to really wake up the authorities. And here too, that's what's happened.
03:45Delhi's PG rules are now finally set for review. After the loss of life, the civic body has sprung into
03:52action.
03:52It's demolished 24 PG's has sealed seven of them. And I can bet you that this is the story across
03:59Delhi, not just one pocket like Satya Niketan.
04:02The unfortunate reality is that after tragedy, you'll see authorities wake up, go on the spree and then forget about
04:07it one week down the line.
04:09But the building collapse in Delhi's Satya Niketan has claimed seven lives and has exposed once again the crumbling infrastructure
04:16in the national capital.
04:18But how did this happen? I explained to you what, in fact, the FIR said.
04:24But we want to take you back to what the structure looked like. How were residents living there?
04:29What did that entire stretch look like? Essentially, this will answer once again why we say that this was a
04:35tragedy waiting to happen.
04:47This is the Satya Niketan area of Delhi. The PG is right here.
04:52Along this narrow, busy stretch, buildings all packed closely on either sides.
04:59And as you can see, there are homes, there are shops, there are small establishments all opening onto the street.
05:05Vehicles are there. People are moving through this particular lane.
05:08And the PG behind me, the building that collapsed, is one of several buildings standing almost wall to wall in
05:14the supremely crowded neighbourhood.
05:16There's very little space between any of the buildings. So this is what the stretch looked like.
05:27Now let's transport you inside the building, inside this PG. Again cramped.
05:33Rooms lined up on both sides of this narrow corridor. It's one after another.
05:38And within these rooms, very small rooms, a large number of young residents staying,
05:43all accommodated within this limited space. Even the common areas beyond this corridor, the passageways that I'm in,
05:51all tightly packed, giving you a sense of just how crowded this building, this PG is.
05:58But here's what was happening. Down in the basement, while all of those students are living above, construction work is
06:05underway.
06:06Workers are moving around their exposed pillars clearly in the basement and that's supporting the entire structure above.
06:16Look at how much of the building actually stands on these few concrete supports.
06:21There are multiple floors as I showed you before. Rooms, all of the weight of all of those floors, those
06:27rooms,
06:27it comes onto these pillars. The pillars are relatively narrow and amid that, these workers continuing to work.
06:34The spaces between them are very tight. They're not spaced out. And yet they're carrying the load of all of
06:40the floors above.
06:42The construction, incomplete. So work is going on. The entire support structure is clearly visible here.
06:50And that gives you a closer look at exactly what's holding the building up. The warning signs are there.
06:55Nobody cared. Nobody did anything about it. It was ignored.
07:02A weak basement, a weak base, pouring rain. In a matter of seconds, it's all gone.
07:07It just takes seconds for the entire building to come crashing down.
07:11The structure suddenly gives way. The upper floors began collapsing into each other.
07:17And then the whole building just falls in on itself. The concrete slabs crash down.
07:24There's nothing left of the walls. And a huge cloud of dust shoots into the air, completely engulfing the entire
07:33structure.
07:34What I showed you before was this now. Floor after floor disappears in front of us.
07:39And the building is reduced to nothing. There's just a heap of concrete and debris left behind.
07:45I've brought you this rooftop view because that gives you a sense of the sheer speed, the sheer scale of
07:52the collapse.
07:53That multi-storied building with so many rooms, with so many youngsters disappearing, even before you can blink.
08:03And let's now get you an India Today special investigation of what exactly happened, not just in this case, but
08:11beyond the collapse site as well.
08:14Seven people are dead. And yet just metres away, the business of student housing continues.
08:20India Today's special investigation team has found a disturbing gap between what the rules demand and what students are actually
08:28being offered.
08:28Are we really surprised because the kind of images that we've shown you of these small rooms that they live
08:34in and yet pay exorbitant rates for?
08:37This is what essentially is happening, that businessmen are milking what they can out of these students.
08:43Our reporters went undercover and found PGs operating in buildings with dampness, with seepage, questionable construction rooms being rented with
08:51a six month lock in period.
08:53Landlords, brokers openly discussing demand, students unable to do anything, scrambling for accommodation, taking whatever they can get and shelling
09:03out big bucks for it.
09:04With hundreds of PGs packed into the area, the question is no longer just where will students live?
09:10Here's a look at part one of our eye-opening report.
09:18At least seven innocent lives snuffed out, buried under the debris of apathy.
09:27But this is just the tip of the iceberg.
09:31The rot runs much deeper.
09:36India today's reality check found that the rules on paper and the reality on the ground are worlds apart.
09:48Just 100 metres from the collapsed site is Sai Properties.
09:55A five-storey PG operates inside the building.
09:59Meet Dhandraj, the broker, renting out rooms.
10:06A wide-storey PG operates in the building.
10:07A long-zero rooms can become a room.
10:09How can you get a room?
10:10What do you want to call.
10:15What do you want to call the water on the ground?
10:19In five or ten thousand square feet.
10:2015 thousand square feet.
10:21One single room.
10:23How can I get a phone?
10:25High-punk 可以.
10:27And it won't be an AC.
10:30The AC is not available.
10:32There's no AC to that.
10:32The AC is available.
10:33So far, I can't solve the platform.
10:33And it'll be a phone.
10:33ཅསྐ པར གསྐ ཆགས ཅེ ཆསང ཆསྐ ཤོས
10:34Yes, 20 years ago.
10:40And...
10:40One month has been charged with one brother's security.
10:45And for 20 days, we have to take a whole day.
10:4815 days ago?
10:50And you have to sign an agreement?
10:52Yes.
10:54When you have 6 months, you have to stay in 6 months.
10:57Okay.
10:59You have to stay in 6 months, right?
11:00Yes.
11:01And...
11:02Yes.
11:04One month's rent.
11:07Six month lock-in.
11:09And then we walked inside,
11:11where even in broad daylight,
11:13darkened stairs greet us.
11:16Along with seepage, dampness and filth.
11:24There's a lot of wood.
11:26There's a lot of wood.
11:28There's a lot of wood.
11:29There's a lot of wood.
11:33There's a lot of wood.
11:35There's a lot of wood.
11:37There's a lot of wood.
11:38Everybody's flat.
11:52Meanwhile, Dhanraj revealed that after the building collapsed, students have been coming
11:57to him, looking for rooms.
12:35And it gets worse.
12:37Next door in Moti Bagh village, a house on a barely passable lane, a 50 square yard plot.
12:46New rooms have been constructed right up to the fifth floor.
12:55Which floor is this?
12:57This is the fourth floor.
13:00This is the fifth floor.
13:03The ground floor is the fifth floor.
13:06The ground floor is the fourth floor.
13:11The ground floor is next.
13:13This is the fifth floor.
13:13The ground floor is removed.
13:15This is already built now?
13:16Yes this is already built.
13:20How will this rent be?
13:22This one is the one.
13:24This one is the one.
13:25The one is the one.
13:25So you have to sign a agreement?
13:34Three rooms on every floor. No clear agreement requirement.
13:40We spoke to Virvati on the phone.
13:42She quoted a rent of 14,000 rupees for the room on the fifth floor.
13:51The person is living in the home of the room.
13:56Yes, sir.
14:01The person was living in the upper floor are 14,000 rupees.
14:04Let's do something.
14:06The person is on the front.
14:07The person is on the front.
14:11This is my son.
14:23We met Om just a few steps away from the accident site, who gave us a glimpse of the scale.
14:53Seven dead, families torn apart, but the hunt for profit from student housing continues.
15:02The PG racket stands, and one question remains.
15:07The question is, for how long?
15:11An India Today Special Investigation Team report by Nitin Jain.
15:20Delhi University is one of India's biggest education dreams, but for thousands of students, getting admission is only half the
15:29battle.
15:29And then, hostel seats, severely limited.
15:32Students are being pushed into private PG's, and these rented rooms that we've spoken of, that we've shown you ample
15:37examples of,
15:38that are cramped spaces.
15:40There are safety concerns, obviously, with the incident that's happened.
15:43And amid all of that, soaring rent rates.
15:46All of this, unfortunately, is the norm.
15:48The Satya Niketan building collapse has now brought that hidden crisis into sharp focus.
15:53We get you now a ground report, where we focus on the duo hostel shortage,
15:58the unsafe PG reality that students have no choice but to live in.
16:13The Satya Niketan building collapse has exposed a grim reality for Delhi University's students.
16:22For many, getting into DU is only the beginning of the struggle.
16:27Because once they make it here, finding a safe place to live becomes the real challenge.
16:33And the reason is a massive hostel crisis.
16:41As per reports, 7 lakh students were enrolled in Delhi University in 2025.
16:47But with just 7,000 to 9,000 hostel seats, as many as 100 students are competing for every single
16:55seat.
16:57And a staggering mismatch.
16:59And the result, thousands of students are pushed into private PG's and rented rooms around the university.
17:11Cramped spaces.
17:15Unsafe buildings.
17:18And rents that keep rising.
17:22In the rain, there are so many waterlogging in the past.
17:26In the past, there is also a fire break-out, a short circuit.
17:30But at that time, there is no reaction, no resolution.
17:34I mean, we do so much work on the CUT exam, and after coming, when their dream is complete,
17:40there is no hostel available in college.
17:43So we get the nearest point, which is the Satya Niketan in South Campus.
17:46So most of the students, who are studying in South Campus, live here in PG.
17:51And you can see, the place is very congested.
17:53So we don't have any choice.
17:55We have to live here.
17:56People all over the country come here to study in Delhi University.
18:00That is one thing.
18:01So it's just the responsibility of the administration to construct a hostel.
18:08At Satya Niketan, students living next to the collapsed building are now packing their bags,
18:13not because their course is over, but because they fear for their lives.
18:20It's a very bad situation here, because all the buildings are attached.
18:24If there is a big earthquake, then everything will heal.
18:26But still, I don't mind, because there is such a big incident, so we are going to go home.
18:30Because I don't even know the parents, right now.
18:32Now, cracks have appeared in adjoining buildings.
18:37Students are leaving, while some allege landlords are refusing to return their security deposits.
19:11And this isn't just Satya Niketan.
19:14Our reality check in Nehru Vihar and Mukherjee Nagar near Delhi's North Campus found students living in cramped PG's, some
19:23with damaged ceilings and serious safety concerns.
19:44Some of the walls are in plaster, but they are not required to be in these conditions.
19:53We are living in a fifth floor. There is a small tree, and the walls are in all parts of
20:01the ceiling.
20:02Sir, here is a very bad situation. I am talking to you, but no one knows that this is a
20:06building collapse.
20:19Every year lacks dream of making it to Delhi University, but for many that dream comes
20:26with an unsafe PG, cramped rooms and unaffordable rents.
20:34The Satya Niketan Collapse has exposed a crisis far bigger than one building.
20:41Getting into DU is the dream, finding a safe place to live is the struggle, and somewhere
20:48in between, the DU dream is dying.
21:03So many students we have spoken to are now living in fear, worried that at any moment
21:08a building next to them, or even the one they live in, could come crashing down.
21:13Cracks in adjoining buildings are forcing them to move out.
21:16Some students allege that they are being even denied their security deposits.
21:20With limited hostel space at Delhi University, the exodus is also highlighting the shortage
21:25of safe and affordable student accommodation in the area.
21:29We spoke to several such students who are now out on the streets unsure of what to do next.
21:33Take a look.
21:45Seven lives lost buried beneath the rubble of a building that collapsed in Delhi's Satya Niketan.
21:54For those who have survived, the nightmare continues.
21:59Students living in adjoining buildings are now being forced to leave.
22:04Fleeing and fearing for their lives as cracks appear in buildings around them and with fear
22:12of another building giving way.
22:18Students allege landlords are refusing to return their security deposits if they leave before
22:24the 11 month rental agreement ends.
22:30They are now from the house.
22:32But now I am not sure, it is the same.
22:35Our side building isn't.
22:37Many people will give us 50,000 rupees for their building.
22:40One month you will involve a loan, two years.
22:44How many containers you have?
22:45The only the only room they give us.
22:47How much are you?
22:48My tax was 13,000.
22:5013,000 useful was that I have reduced some bargaining.
22:52Two, maintenance charges.
23:19Students say their agreements are typically for 11 months.
23:23And leaving midway may mean losing the security deposit unless another tenant replaces them.
23:54In the building adjacent to the one that collapsed, the MCD is moving students' belongings out flow by flow.
24:01And one student says Sunday changed everything.
24:06The place is very congested. So we don't have any choice.
24:10We have to live here.
24:11And then after this incident, it's really disheartening.
24:18So when the building fell, our PGV seemed to shake a little bit.
24:22We thought that we were all out.
24:24We didn't have a phone.
24:26We didn't have a mask for two days.
24:35Behind this departure is a much bigger problem.
24:39Delhi University has limited hostel capacity.
24:43Most Delhi University colleges do not have hostels, leaving students dependent on PG accommodation and rented rooms in cramped bylanes.
24:57And the anger is spilling onto the streets.
25:00Student organizations from the left groups to the NSUI and the ABVP are all protesting.
25:08Their demand? Hostel for students and compensation for the families of those killed.
25:17Forced out of unsafe homes, fighting to recover their deposits.
25:23And with nowhere left to go.
25:26They came to Delhi to build a future.
25:29Today, they're simply fighting to save their present.
25:33And to have a safe play to stay.
25:36With Piyush Mishra and Amit Bharadwaj, Bureau Report, India Today.
25:45This tragedy, as is always the case, will be forgotten by authorities in a day or two.
25:50The crackdown that you're seeing right now will be effective for the next 24-48 hours,
25:55after which they'll hope everyone moves on from this tragedy.
25:57But we're not going to.
25:58We're going to keep the lens on this particular case
26:01and highlight the crumbling infrastructure in the national capital
26:04because it needs to be highlighted.
26:06It needs to be uncovered.
26:07It needs to be exposed.
26:09That's all we have time for in this edition of NewsTrack.
26:11Thanks for tuning in.
26:12Good night.
26:20Good night.
26:20Good night.