Geeta Colony Building Tilts: All Residents Safely Evacuated After Overhang Collapse

A four-storey building tilted in east Delhi's Geeta Colony on Monday evening, prompting a rescue operation in which all occupants were safely evacuated, police said on Tuesday. The incident occurred in 'Akhade Wali Gali' in the locality.

Police have cordoned off the area around the building and advised residents of neighbouring houses to stay away from the structure. According to officials, all occupants of the building, including an elderly woman with a spinal injury, were rescued safely.

Eyewitnesses and locals reported that an overhang (chhajja) above the second-floor balcony collapsed earlier due to rains, after which residents noticed the building had started leaning. Ravi, a local resident, told PTI that the building was tilting from the back and right sides. He mentioned that an elderly woman and her son lived on the second floor.

“The woman suffered a spinal injury and was unable to get up on her own. We weren't sure whether her son was inside the house. We tried looking upstairs but couldn't see anyone,” Ravi said on Monday evening. He added that locals had previously complained to authorities about the building's condition. “We had submitted complaints earlier. The police had also come, made videos and took photographs, but no action was taken,” he said, noting that the building was around 30 to 35 years old.

Visuals from the spot showed the four-storey corner building with shuttered shops on the ground floor and three residential floors above, appearing to lean towards one side. Police personnel kept onlookers away as the building stands at the junction of two narrow lanes lined with closely packed residential structures.