New Delhi, Sep 22 (PTI) Eighteen more buildings in NDMC's Malkaganj ward have been added to the list of dangerous structures after a fresh survey was conducted by the civic body in the wake of collapse of a four-storey building in the area recently, officials said on Wednesday.

Chairman of the Standing Committee of the North Delhi Municipal Corporation (NDMC), Jogi Ram Jain, also claimed that "no fault of any civic official" had been found in the probe that was ordered into the September incident in which two children were killed.

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On September 15, the NDMC Standing Committee had directed its commissioner to conduct a probe into recent building collapse incidents, including the one at Malkaganj.

"No fault of any civic official has been found in the Malkaganj incident. Some civil work was being done in the building the night before the collapse. No local resident or councillor had complained about it. The building collapsed the next morning," Jain claimed.

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"Also, in our last meeting, we had proposed that compensation be given to the next of kin of people who died in such incidents, and financial assistance for those who got injured, as per policy. However, under the DMC Act, there is no such provision, and during the NDMC House meeting today, a discussion was held on it, and felt that Delhi government should offer compensation," he said.

The safety of old houses and other structures has come into sharp focus as two boys, aged seven and 12, were killed after the four-story building had collapsed in north Delhi's Sabzi Mandi area.

Hours after the collapse, the area's civic body had ordered a probe into the incident and decided to reassess condition of all dangerous buildings across its six zones.

About 700 buildings located in areas under the jurisdiction of the NDMC were declared as dangerous structures in a pre-monsoon survey by it, senior officials had earlier said.

While the building which collapsed in Malkaganj was not declared a dangerous structure in the survey, nine properties located on Main Road, Old Sabzi Mandi, where the incident took place, were kept under dangerous category, they said.

Twenty structures were declared as dangerous in the Malkaganj ward, where the building that collapsed was located, the civic body had said.

"After the fresh survey, 18 more buildings in Malkaganj ward have been added to the list of dangerous structures. So, the total number of such buildings now stands at 38," Jain said.

North Delhi Municipal Commissioner Sanjay Goel could not be reached for comments.

Goel while ordering a probe into the Malkaganj collapse incident had sought a report on it in seven days.

"An inquiry has been ordered by the commissioner, NDMC, into this unfortunate incident to be conducted by the Building Department (HQ), and directed for submission of report within seven days. Further, necessary action against delinquent official, if any, will be taken after receipt of the report," the NDMC had said in a statement on September 13.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)