New Delhi: When you enter Gali No. 8 on 33 Foota Road in northeast Delhi’s Dayalpur, you can see a visibly leaning building. The tilting ground-plus-five-storey structure has become a source of fear for local residents, being as it is, just 1.5km from the site of the devastating building collapse in Mustafabad that claimed 11 lives around a week ago.
Residents said that the building had multiple owners, while an NGO operated from one floor and the rest had families residing. A crack has appeared on the wall near the electric meter board at the entrance of the building’s cramped staircase. There was a shop on the ground floor. Many houses in the vicinity were locked, suggesting that wary residents had moved out.

Waseem, who works with the NGO with its office on the second floor, was collecting some belongings. “The owners don’t live here. I pay Rs 3,500 for a room with a kitchen and bathroom and have been living here for the past few months,” he said, adding that one day when on the terrace, he felt the building was tilting. This fear was confirmed on Wednesday when police and municipal officials inspected the building. The families were evacuated along with their belongings. The residents of two other houses nearby were also evacuated. “Apart from the families living in the affected building, four or five families who resided in the proximity of the building also shifted,” said local resident Yaseen.
Upon entering the building, constructed on a small 25 sq yard plot, TOI noticed a small kitchen attached to a bathroom and a small room. Gali No 8 is a congested street, so cramped that a four-wheeler cannot pass through. The area is densely packed with multi-storey buildings, their balconies jutting out closely and cutting off the light. Dangling wires can be seen. Yaseen reported that the building was constructed around five years ago near the entry gate to the locality, a route that the people regularly use to go to school or work. A building collapse, thus, is a big peril.
Residents said 25-30 families lived in the neighbourhood, where blocked drains exacerbate the already challenging living conditions. Most of the residents are labourers or low-wage earners. According to police, the area is an unauthorised colony.
A woman standing nearby explained that people were drawn to the area by the low rents. They occupied single-room units, which she described as “no bigger than a matchbox”. She said, “A few months ago, a glass pane fell from a window in the same building, but fortunately, no one was injured.”
Mohammad Shahbaz, another man living close to the building, said that the cracks had begun to appear on the walls after the recent earthquake. “We filed a complaint about the building, but no one responded. I moved my family out after Wednesday’s disaster,” he revealed.
Farheen Khan, 59, who planned to shift his family to a relative’s house, said that the colony was settled for decades. “We are living in fear, not knowing when the building might collapse. There are children in the area, and their lives, along with those of other people, are at risk,” said Khan.
Around 1pm on Friday, MCD officials and police personnel were at the spot to bring down the building. According to a statement by MCD, a portion of the structure was indeed leaning, with signs of dampness and loose soil on that side. The team noted that the tilted side was temporarily supported with filling material. The building was declared a “dangerous structure” and notices were served to the owner and the SHO of Dayalpur police station. To prevent mishaps, the demolition is being carried out cautiously in a phased manner, starting from the fifth floor downwards.