<p>Blaming the BJP-ruled Municipal Corporation of Delhi for the Lalita Park building collapse in November 2010 which killed 70 people, the Commission of Inquiry headed by Justice Lokeshwar Prasad said that various arms of the MCD “miserably failed” in discharging their statutory duty on their own and in coordination with each other.<br /><br /></p>.<p>Besides MCD, the commission also pulled up Delhi Development Authority (DDA), police and fire department for their failure to prevent building owner Amrik Singh from adding several floors to the unauthorised structure. <br /><br />The report was tabled in Delhi Assembly on Wednesday.<br /><br />On the evening of November 15, 2010, a four-storey building collapsed in east Delhi’s Lalita Park area. Its fifth-floor was under construction and most of the victims were labourers from West Bengal and Bihar,Pointing out that the building and tax divisions of the MCD failed to detect that the structure was unauthorised, the report said that Singh began construction in Lalita Park in 1988 when the area was already under the MCD. So regulating building activities was the responsibility of that civic body and its functionaries.<br /><br />“Even if one department had done its duty by being vigilant and bringing the real facts to the fore, the unfortunate building would not have been constructed in such a haphazard manner,” the report said. The commission observed that it is at a loss to understand the purpose of having such a huge department as the MCD, which has a mammoth workforce and an array of empowered statutory arsenal, if an individual can still have his way by blatantly violating the law.<br /><br />While holding MCD as the biggest culprit, the commission concluded that the DDA’s responsibility is no less in the buiding collapse. The commission also believes that had police been more vigilant in discharginging their duties on preventing unauthorised construction, the incident could have been averted. <br /><br />The fire department also drew criticism for failing to “discharge their statutory obligations”. <br /><br />The report said that a majority of buildings in east Delhi are “flouting basic principles of engineering and procedures mentioned in the Bureau of Indian Standards”. <br /><br />The commission said that east Delhi buildings mostly had little or no fire-fighting arrangements in place. The report recommended that a proper soil survey be made mandatory before embarking on a building project in the area.<br /></p>
<p>Blaming the BJP-ruled Municipal Corporation of Delhi for the Lalita Park building collapse in November 2010 which killed 70 people, the Commission of Inquiry headed by Justice Lokeshwar Prasad said that various arms of the MCD “miserably failed” in discharging their statutory duty on their own and in coordination with each other.<br /><br /></p>.<p>Besides MCD, the commission also pulled up Delhi Development Authority (DDA), police and fire department for their failure to prevent building owner Amrik Singh from adding several floors to the unauthorised structure. <br /><br />The report was tabled in Delhi Assembly on Wednesday.<br /><br />On the evening of November 15, 2010, a four-storey building collapsed in east Delhi’s Lalita Park area. Its fifth-floor was under construction and most of the victims were labourers from West Bengal and Bihar,Pointing out that the building and tax divisions of the MCD failed to detect that the structure was unauthorised, the report said that Singh began construction in Lalita Park in 1988 when the area was already under the MCD. So regulating building activities was the responsibility of that civic body and its functionaries.<br /><br />“Even if one department had done its duty by being vigilant and bringing the real facts to the fore, the unfortunate building would not have been constructed in such a haphazard manner,” the report said. The commission observed that it is at a loss to understand the purpose of having such a huge department as the MCD, which has a mammoth workforce and an array of empowered statutory arsenal, if an individual can still have his way by blatantly violating the law.<br /><br />While holding MCD as the biggest culprit, the commission concluded that the DDA’s responsibility is no less in the buiding collapse. The commission also believes that had police been more vigilant in discharginging their duties on preventing unauthorised construction, the incident could have been averted. <br /><br />The fire department also drew criticism for failing to “discharge their statutory obligations”. <br /><br />The report said that a majority of buildings in east Delhi are “flouting basic principles of engineering and procedures mentioned in the Bureau of Indian Standards”. <br /><br />The commission said that east Delhi buildings mostly had little or no fire-fighting arrangements in place. The report recommended that a proper soil survey be made mandatory before embarking on a building project in the area.<br /></p>
