top of page

By:

Correspondent

21 August 2024 at 3:50:16 pm

Paper Towers

The collapse of the Delhi hostel which has left six people dead and several more injured brings into sharp relief the dangerous disconnect between what is sanctioned and what is actually built in Indian cities. The structure was reportedly sanctioned only up to ground-plus-one, yet had grown to five storeys and was being used as a densely occupied student hostel. While the investigation will establish whether the basement alterations, weakened pillars, waterlogging or some other structural...

Paper Towers

The collapse of the Delhi hostel which has left six people dead and several more injured brings into sharp relief the dangerous disconnect between what is sanctioned and what is actually built in Indian cities. The structure was reportedly sanctioned only up to ground-plus-one, yet had grown to five storeys and was being used as a densely occupied student hostel. While the investigation will establish whether the basement alterations, weakened pillars, waterlogging or some other structural failure caused the building to give way, the circumstances already raise a more uncomfortable question: how does a building apparently approved for two floors become a five-storey hostel without the system noticing? Delhi’s student neighbourhoods have developed a voracious market for cheap accommodation, and where demand rises faster than regulated housing, buildings acquire floors, rooms and tenants with remarkable speed. A residential property becomes a paying guest facility; a basement becomes usable space; another floor appears; more beds are squeezed in. The paperwork, if it exists at all, struggles to keep pace with the construction. There is no reason to assume that this is uniquely Delhi’s problem. Pune’s student districts, Bengaluru’s rental corridors, Mumbai’s crowded suburbs and other education and employment hubs face the same pressures. Wherever land is scarce, rents are high and demand for accommodation is relentless, the temptation to build beyond what was sanctioned is immense. The danger is obvious. A building designed for one purpose and a particular structural load cannot indefinitely be treated as a piece of elastic real estate. Adding floors, altering columns, excavating beneath an existing structure or cramming dozens of occupants into a building designed for far fewer people is not renovation. It is gambling with lives. Yet India’s municipal systems too often seem to discover illegal construction only after something has collapsed. The response is then predictable: an FIR, inspections, sealing drives and promises that officials found negligent will be punished. Delhi has already ordered inspections of nearby paying guest accommodations and buildings with fifth floors. Such action is welcome. It is also painfully late. The real test is not how efficiently the authorities clear the rubble. It is whether they can prevent the next building from becoming rubble. The country needs more than inspection drives. It needs municipal bodies capable of knowing what is being built in their jurisdictions, enforcing sanctioned plans before violations become permanent and making officials answerable when obvious breaches are ignored. A city’s housing shortage cannot be solved by allowing unsafe buildings to multiply. Nor can affordable accommodation be secured by making students the unwitting occupants of structural experiments. Satya Niketan has exposed a dangerous gap between the buildings cities need and the buildings their regulations can safely accommodate. If that gap is not closed, the next collapse may simply have a different pin code.

Discussions on among allies for govt formation: Ajit Pawar

Updated: Nov 29, 2024

Ajit Pawar

Mumbai: Deputy Chief Minister and NCP head Ajit Pawar on Monday said discussions were underway among the Mahayuti partners to finalise a formula for the new government formation in the state.


Speaking to reporters at Karad in Satara district, Pawar also acknowledged the contribution of the government's Ladki Bahin scheme, which provides financial assistance to women, in the Mahayuti's victory in the just-concluded state assembly polls.


The NCP leader also assured that the alliance was working cohesively following its resounding victory in the state assembly elections.


Pawar paid tributes to Maharashtra's first chief minister Yashwantrao Chavan at his memorial in Karad on his death anniversary.


In the state poll results declared on Saturday, the Mahayuti, which comprises the BJP, Chief Minister Eknath Shinde's Shiv Sena and Ajit Pawar-led NCP, bagged an impressive 230 of the 288 assembly seats.


The focus has been on BJP leader and Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, who is being seen as a strong contender to occupy the top post for the third time, as his party bagged 132 of the 149 seats it contested in the state.


Notably, Maharashtra minister and Shiv Sena leader Deepak Kesarkar has said his party legislators feel Eknath Shinde should continue as the chief minister of the state, where the ruling Mahayuti scored a landslide victory in the assembly polls.


Ajit Pawar said, "We will decide what formula to work out on the cabinet formation among the three parties."


Reflecting on the elections, he acknowledged the contribution of the Ladki Bahin scheme in the Mahayuti's win.


"We cannot ignore that Ladki Bahin helped us in this election. We are grateful to them (women voters)," he said.


Defending the scheme, Pawar, who is also the state finance minister, further said, "Had I been opposed to the Ladki Bahin scheme, I would not have presented it in the House. I discussed the scheme with several retired finance officers before finalising it."


Pawar also dismissed concerns raised by some opposition leaders over the Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs), pointing out that polls in states like Punjab, West Bengal and Telangana, governed by their political opponents, have been conducted with the same system.


Commenting on members of same families contesting against each other during the elections, Pawar expressed annoyance over repeated questions on it.


He then asked, "Why was my close nephew fielded? Atram's own daughter was fielded against him, and even Rajendra Shingne faced a similar challenge. I don't want to comment further on this. I have got tired of apologising for fielding my wife against Supriya. Yugendra was in business, then why was he prepared to contest against me?"


In the Baramati assembly seat, Ajit Pawar was pitted against his nephew and NCP (SP) candidate Yugendra Pawar.


In Aheri seat, NCP leader Dharamraobaba Atram's daughter Bhagyashree Atram contested against him on NCP (SP) ticket.

Comments

bottom of page