Chawri Bazar collapse: Narrow lanes, markets obstructed rescue ops

Rescue operations at an illegal under-construction building site in Chawri Bazar's Sheesh Mahal locality were hindered by extremely narrow lanes, littered with hardware stores and flanked by markets that prevented heavy machinery from reaching the site of the collapse.

Emergency personnel said they had to navigate the congested lanes to reach on foot to reach the site, and the lane was only wide enough for two persons to walk at a time. As excavators could not be deployed, officials arranged for small trolleys to carry the debris and for personnel to reach trapped victims.

Personnel from the Delhi Fire Services (DFS) and National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) were deployed at around 10am to carry out the rescue operations. "Barely, two people can walk in this lane and heavy lentils have fallen on top of each other. The municipal corporation officials were also roped in to clear the debris," a senior NDRF officer said.

The incident, once again, highlighted the challenges of conducting rescue operations in Old Delhi's densely packed neighbourhoods, officials said. At least two labourers were killed and two sustained injuries when the under-construction residential building -- where work was underway despite a construction ban -- collapsed on Thursday morning.

The NDRF officer said, "Municipal officials arranged small trolleys to carry the debris out. They are breaking the heavy big pieces into smaller ones and then ferrying them out manually. We are using chip hammers and small machines because that's all we can use."

NDRF also roped in the dog squad to scan the area in the afternoon. "The dog squad didn't show any positive signs of life below the debris but the debris is stacked up to the first floor; so one cannot say for sure," the officer said in the afternoon.

By evening, the NDRF and DFS broke the wall of an adjacent building, which was also newly constructed, as the rescue operations continued till late evening.

"Some people are still probably trapped. But since the lanes are so narrow and it's difficult to remove the debris. They had to break the wall of the house next to the collapsed building to expedite rescue operations," said Rafir Mahir, municipal ward councillor for Sita Ram Bazaar.

The incident is the latest in a series of such tragedies, reflective of civic apathy. On October 25, a father-son duo died when an under-construction building collapsed in northeast Delhi's Harsh Vihar. On October 7, at least four people were killed when a building collapsed in New Seemapuri. On September 6, a multi-storey boys' hostel collapsed, killing seven people, including five Delhi University students and two labourers.