New Delhi: A magisterial inquiry into the May 30 collapse of an unauthorised multi-storey building in south Delhi’s Saket has flagged serious lapses by MCD, questioning why illegal construction went undetected for months and alleging that some civic officials may have fabricated records after the tragedy to cover up their inaction.Delhi govt had ordered an inquiry to examine the circumstances leading to the collapse and fix responsibility after the incident that left six persons dead and several injured. The building, which lacked a sanctioned building plan, collapsed after the owner allegedly excavated a basement to construct an underground water tank, compromising its structural stability, as per the report prepared by DM South.The inquiry found that MCD had received a complaint about an unauthorised construction on March 9 and forwarded it to the officials concerned on March 12. However, no record of any inspection, booking, demolition or preventive action for more than two months was produced. The report questioned why the illegal construction remained unnoticed by field staff until May 27, barely three days before the collapse. It also pointed to inadequate field inspections, frequent changes of junior engineers, absence of records of periodic inspections and failure to monitor structurally unsafe buildings in unauthorised colonies.In its strongest observation, the inquiry said it was prima facie apparent that certain MCD officials had prepared false and fabricated show-cause and work-stop notices after the collapse to create a record of official action and conceal their lapses and negligence.
