Delhi Braces for BRICS as Collapse Toll Rises

Synopsis

At least six people were killed when a 50-year-old building with a boy's hostel inside collapsed in Satya Niketan in front of South Campus of the University of Delhi on a second day of rescue operations. The tragedy plays out as the capital gets ready for the 18th BRICS Leader’s Summit, set for September 11, when schools and government offices will be closed.

Twin Crises Converge on the Capital

This week, South Delhi is in a very precarious position as it faces a grave mix of two events — one, a fatal structural collapse and the other, a big diplomatic meeting — that is under intense scrutiny for civic administration.

The Satya Niketan Tragedy

The collapse of a five-storey hostel for boys, in an overcrowded by lane of Satya Niketan, close to the South Campus of the Delhi University, occurred Sunday afternoon.

But the rescue efforts stepped up over the next few days; 11 people were retrieved from the debris, and the Delhi High Court blamed both the Delhi University and the Municipal Corporation of Delhi for the incident, while police issued a lookout notice for the owner of the paying-guest facility, Hari Ram, who was then arrested with his wife and son.

The National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) was still in the process of rescuing those affected by the earthquake, while a nearby pillar-less structure, which was 40-50 years old and in poor condition, was making the rescue operations difficult, said Manjinder Singh Sirsa, minister of the department of Disaster Management and Relief in the Delhi government.

He said that at that time, six lives had been confirmed dead amid the 12 people who were rescued and that the Chief Minister's order would be implemented with none spared. The toll increased to seven later that day in the next report.

A familiar pattern of neglect

This is no exception to the neighbourhood. Deccan Herald sources say that the civic body had recorded several structural failures with the old, overcrowded buildings which have been converted into paying-guest (PG) accommodation at Satya Niketan over the past few years, a trend which civic engineers have long pointed out as being endemic to the unregulated hostel economy in Delhi around universities.

BRICS Preparations exacerbate the tension

In the midst of the devastation, the city is preparing for the 18th BRICS Leaders' Summit to be held at Bharat Mandapam. All Delhi government schools and recognised unaided private schools along with all offices of central government in New Delhi will be closed on September 11, the ministry of personnel said in its order, which also declared a public holiday to reduce any "inconvenience" caused by this event as "substantial logistical arrangements" are being put in place.

The summit proper will be held at Bharat Mandapam in New Delhi on September 12 and 13 and will feature leaders from around 30 countries of the BRICS group, heads of international bodies and business representatives.

A Global Guest List

India took over the chairmanship of the group this year and there have been extensive preparations. With Brazil hosting the 17th summit in 2025, the chairmanship will rotate to India on January 1, 2026. This, in particular, will have more diplomatic heft as China's President Xi Jinping is expected to attend for the first time since the 2020 India-China border clashes (see accompanying Veritas report on Xi's Sept. travel agenda to multiple countries).

Why It Matters

As it turns out, a civilian tragedy which could have been prevented, is being contrasted with a display event like an international summit that Delhi is hosting in a matter of days, the debate has been raging over the governance of the city's infrastructure.

Outlook

Structural audit of old structures around the universities is likely to be carried out with greater intensity in the wake of the collapse, while the Delhi Police and PWD invest more resources on ensuring security at the summit and beautification projects on the routes leading to Bharat Mandapam.