The Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) has intensified its crackdown on unauthorised construction and unsafe properties following the Satya Niketan building collapse, demolishing 67 properties and sealing nine others over September 11 and 12.
The civic body also issued show-cause notices to 35 properties and demolition orders against four properties during the two-day enforcement drive. The action forms part of a wider safety assessment and enforcement campaign launched after a five-storey building housing a paying guest (PG) facility collapsed in Delhi's Satya Niketan area, killing at least seven people, most of them students.
MCD expands enforcement across Delhi
The latest action follows an earlier large-scale demolition drive carried out by the MCD after the Satya Niketan tragedy. On Tuesday, the civic body demolished 35 buildings across 12 MCD zones as part of its crackdown on unauthorised and unsafe structures.
Najafgarh witnessed a major demolition exercise, while action was also taken against a four-storey building in Shahdara North. Demolitions were carried out in Rohini, where six properties were razed, Narela with three, Civil Lines with three and Shahdara North with six, among other areas.
The MCD also carried out nine sealing actions during that drive. Two large godowns in Karol Bagh were among the properties sealed, while a hotel in the West Zone was also sealed.
The civic body has stepped up enforcement against unauthorised construction and property misuse following recent incidents in Saket and Malviya Nagar.
Between June 1 and September 3, 2026, the MCD had already demolished 983 properties and sealed 464. It had issued 1,516 show-cause notices for unauthorised construction, along with 708 sealing show-cause notices, and issued 726 demolition orders.
PG survey identifies dangerous buildings
Alongside the demolition and sealing drives, the MCD has been conducting a city-wide assessment of PG accommodations to determine the safety of buildings and the number of occupants staying in them.
The civic body surveyed more than 1,200 PG buildings this week. An earlier MCD assessment covering 1,252 PG buildings found 1,201 structures to be visibly safe, while 39 required minor repairs and nine needed major repairs. Three buildings were classified as dangerous, with demolition of one already under way.
The MCD has also separately identified 26 framed structures above G+4 floors for close monitoring because of their potential vulnerability.
The survey has been undertaken as part of a wider effort to create a database of PG facilities and identify structures requiring safety or enforcement action. Reports said the buildings are being assessed according to categories including visibly safe, visibly repairable with minor repairs, visibly repairable with major repairs, and visibly vulnerable or dangerous.
The survey continued on Thursday as the civic body intensified its action against unauthorised construction, misuse of properties and dangerous structures.
Commercial misuse also under MCD scrutiny
The MCD has also conducted a separate three-month survey of residential areas to identify properties being used for commercial purposes in violation of regulations.
Around 300,000 properties across 404 colonies and 168 wards were surveyed during the exercise to identify commercial misuse of residential premises.
The crackdown comes amid growing scrutiny of building safety in Delhi after the Satya Niketan tragedy. The civic body's enforcement campaign is now focusing on unauthorised construction, unsafe structures, property misuse and PG accommodations across its 12 zones.
The Satya Niketan collapse has also prompted closer monitoring of buildings considered structurally vulnerable, particularly multi-storey properties and those being used to accommodate large numbers of people.