14 hrs ago
Experts Propose Eight Fixes After Delhi Student Housing Collapse
A student housing building in Delhi collapsed while students were sleeping.
Seven students died in the accident.
The building was old and had recently been changed into a private paying guest, or PG, home.
Experts said it was not built strongly enough and may not have followed important safety rules.
Delhi also does not have enough university hostel rooms, so many students live in private buildings.
The experts suggested checking PGs regularly and publishing safety ratings.
They also recommended stronger construction certificates, sensors that can detect building problems, and more sunlight, air, space, and shared areas.
They said universities should provide housing or take responsibility for safe private accommodation.
A five-storey PG called Hostel Daze collapsed in Delhi's Satya Niketan on 6 September 2026, killing seven students.
The building was around 50 years old, had been converted into a PG weeks earlier, and renovation was reportedly still underway.
Experts said the building lacked reinforced concrete columns and beams and relied on load-bearing walls despite Delhi's seismic risk.
Delhi University has more than seven lakh students but fewer than 8,000 hostel rooms, forcing many students into private PGs.
Proposed solutions include recurring PG ratings, structural certification, sensor monitoring, better design standards, and expanded university housing.
- Who
- Seven students were killed; architects and urban planners Dikshu C. Kukreja and Professor Sangramsinh Parmar proposed safety reforms.
- What
- The five-storey Hostel Daze PG collapsed, prompting calls for safer and better-regulated student housing.
- Where
- Hostel Daze was in Satya Niketan, near Delhi University's South Campus, in Delhi.
- When
- The collapse occurred on 6 September 2026; the building had been converted into a PG in August.
- Why
- Experts attributed the danger to flawed construction, weak enforcement of existing rules, poor living conditions, and a shortage of university hostel rooms.
Expansion and Capacity
Enforcement and Liveability
How to address the PG shortage
Expansion and Capacity
Delhi's proposed policy would allow PGs to expand and rebuild on more land, potentially increasing accommodation.
Enforcement and Liveability
Professor Sangramsinh Parmar argued that adding space would only provide a temporary solution because student demand would continue to grow.
Responsibility for off-campus housing
Expansion and Capacity
Universities could expand admissions while students use private PGs to meet the housing shortfall.
Enforcement and Liveability
Dikshu C. Kukreja argued that universities should provide on-campus accommodation where possible or formally take responsibility for the safety of PGs used by their students.
What makes housing safe
Expansion and Capacity
A one-time approval or additional land may be treated as sufficient to create more accommodation.
Enforcement and Liveability
The experts called for recurring inspections, structural certification, monitoring technology, daylight, ventilation, adequate floor space, and community facilities.
Key facts
- Deaths
- Seven students were killed in the collapse.
- Building age
- The building was around 50 years old.
- Student population
- Delhi University has more than seven lakh enrolled students.
- Hostel capacity
- Delhi University has fewer than 8,000 hostel rooms.
- Hostel applications
- More than 30,000 undergraduate students applied for hostel places in 2025, and fewer than one in ten received one.
- Proposed space standard
- Dikshu C. Kukreja recommended about 200 square feet per student, including rooms, circulation areas, and shared amenities.
- Government response
- Delhi's government proposed a new PG licensing policy, while Delhi University's vice-chancellor ordered a hostel-capacity review.
Quotes
Sangramsinh Parmar
Associate Professor and Lead of Space Design at Anant National University
“Taiwan and Korea have sensors that sense wind, rain and structural strain, and trigger an alert to the authorities the moment a threshold is crossed. We have the tech personnel in India to do this. The brainpower is there.”
thebetterindia.com
“It was a fundamentally flawed construction, and something which is visible to the naked eye, and has been completely and blatantly ignored.”
thebetterindia.com
Sources
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