New Delhi: Delhi authorities have ordered structural safety audits of buildings operating as paying guest accommodations in major student hubs across the capital following the deadly collapse of a five-storey PG building in Satya Niketan that killed seven people.
Lieutenant Governor Taranjit Singh Sandhu directed the Chief Secretary to ensure that the audits are completed within seven days. The order was issued during a high-level meeting chaired by Sandhu with Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta and Urban Development Minister Ashish Sood to review the response to the Satya Niketan tragedy and discuss measures to improve safety for students living in private accommodations.
Chaired a review meeting with CM Smt. @gupta_rekha Ji, Minister Shri @AshishSood_bjp Ji, Chief Secretary, DG NDRF, @CPDelhi, and senior officials on building safety, student accommodation, and PG regulations across Delhi.
Emphasised strict enforcement against unsafe buildings,… pic.twitter.com/0nPPpWSNQu
— LG Delhi (@LtGovDelhi) September 7, 2026
The meeting was attended by senior officials, including the chief secretary, National Disaster Response Force chief, Municipal Corporation of Delhi commissioner, Delhi Police commissioner, Delhi University vice chancellor, Delhi Development Authority vice chairman and senior officials from the Home and Education departments.
Officials have been directed to conduct inspection drives at buildings being used as PG accommodations, with particular attention to structures suspected of violating prescribed height, floor and other building restrictions.
The move comes after a five-storey building being used as a boys’ PG in Satya Niketan collapsed while repair and construction work was underway, killing seven people. The incident has raised fresh questions over the structural safety and regulatory compliance of private student housing in Delhi.
No indiscriminate sealing of PGs
While calling for strict enforcement against unsafe and unauthorised structures, the lieutenant governor cautioned authorities against what he described as indiscriminate sealing of PG accommodations.
The administration has been asked to ensure that enforcement measures do not leave students without a place to stay. Authorities will therefore examine alternative accommodation options for students who may have to vacate buildings found to be unsafe.
Sood will head a committee to review the existing rules governing institutional PG accommodations. The panel will also explore whether universities, the MCD and the DDA can provide alternative housing for students affected by safety-related evacuations.
As part of the exercise, officials will examine vacant or underutilised MCD and DDA properties, along with available DDA housing stock, for their potential use as temporary or longer-term student accommodation.
Government looks to expand hostel capacity
The administration is also seeking a longer-term solution to Delhi’s shortage of student housing, which has contributed to the growing dependence on private PGs and rental properties.
The committee has been directed to prepare a mid- and long-term plan to expand hostel capacity across the capital. The DDA and Land & Development Office have been asked to assist universities with necessary approvals and no-objection certificates and consider enhanced floor area ratio, or FAR, where required for hostel construction and expansion.
Authorities are also examining the possibility of allowing higher FAR for redevelopment of existing hostels to increase accommodation capacity while maintaining required safety standards.
Joint inspections of PGs, coaching centres
As an immediate preventive measure, multiple government agencies will conduct joint inspections of buildings housing PG accommodations and coaching centres.
The MCD has been instructed to take stringent action against ongoing unauthorised construction, while inspection teams will identify structures that are unsafe or operating in violation of building regulations.
A committee comprising the district magistrate, deputy commissioner of police and MCD deputy commissioner will also engage directly with students living in private PGs. The panel will hear their concerns and prepare a comprehensive database of students staying in such accommodations.
The database is expected to help authorities determine how many students could be affected if unsafe buildings are evacuated and enable the government to plan alternative accommodation.
The Delhi High Court has separately directed the MCD to conduct a high-level inquiry into the Satya Niketan collapse and inspect PG hostels, including their permissions and compliance with building bylaws.
The administration has also ordered measures to strengthen Delhi’s disaster response system. These include the immediate operationalisation of the Delhi Disaster Management Authority control room to coordinate rescue efforts, medical assistance, official communication and support for families of victims.
Adjacent Building to Be Demolished: CM
Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta on Tuesday said the building next to the collapsed Satya Niketan PG has been declared unsafe and will be demolished on Wednesday in a calibrated, phase-wise manner.
The announcement came after she visited injured victims at AIIMS Trauma Centre, where she also handed over ₹5 lakh assistance to each injured person and assured that the government would bear their full treatment costs.
SC Amicus Seeks Safety Audit Of Delhi PG Accommodations
In the wake of the September 6 building collapse in South Delhi’s Satya Niketan, Supreme Court-appointed amicus curiae has urged the top court to expand its ongoing inspection exercise to PG accommodations, private hostels and similar student housing establishments across Delhi.
Amicus curiae and senior advocate Ajit Kumar Sinha noted in his report that the Satya Niketan incident assumes significance as the locality had witnessed another building collapse in April 2022, in which two people were killed and four others were injured.
“The present incident is also required to be viewed in the context of an earlier building collapse in Satya Niketan in April 2022, in which two persons lost their lives and four others were injured. The recurrence of such an incident in the same locality raises serious concerns regarding the effectiveness of the existing mechanism for inspection, identification of dangerous structures and enforcement of building bye-laws”, the amicus report says.
The report noted that construction-related work was being undertaken in or around the basement and that there were reports of waterlogging in the basement immediately before the latest collapse.
Consequently, the amicus has sought a time-bound inspection and safety audit of PGs, private hostels and similar student-accommodation establishments around colleges and universities across Delhi.
The proposed audit seeks checks on sanctioned building plans, actual construction and number of floors, basement construction and alterations, land use, structural and fire safety, ingress and egress, and dangerous or ruinous conditions.
The Supreme Court had earlier directed the inspection of buildings in Lajpat Nagar, Saket and Malviya Nagar amid concerns over unauthorised and unsafe constructions, but Satya Niketan was not covered by that exercise.
The Amicus Curiae’s findings come after Delhi Police registered an FIR in connection with the Satya Niketan building collapse that killed seven people, alleging that additional floors were constructed on the old structure despite concerns over its load-bearing capacity and that further construction work was underway.
