The Delhi High Court on Wednesday observed that the Satya Niketan building collapse was “not an ordinary mishap”, but a tragedy that claimed the lives of students who had come to the city from small towns with hopes and dreams for a better future.
“It’s not any ordinary incident of any mishap. Students are flocking to Delhi for higher education in the hope that they will able to build their careers. The court made the remarks while hearing a petition filed by one Aakarshak Danveer Rathi, seeking an independent probe into the collapse, an audit of paying guest (PG) accommodations , hostels and other residential or commercial establishments, and a detailed report on such premises found to be operating without complying with statutory requirements, along with details of the action taken against them. The court’s observations came after it referred to a newspaper article highlighting the lives and aspirations of five young men from small towns who had come to Delhi and died in the collapse.
These four had come to city with hopes, dreams, coming from small towns and that all has been shattered by callous criminal conduct… Who does not know the problem of hostels since at least 15 to 20 years? During the hearing, Delhi Police, represented by additional solicitor general Chetan Sharma, and the Centre’s standing counsel Ashish Dixit, submitted that the Delhi government had decided to build hostels to accommodate 10,000 students enrolled in colleges and universities across the city. The court, however, tagged the petition along with other petitions concerning the incident and scheduled the next hearing for September 25.
See what has happened,” the bench said.
