Faulty Towers

Delhi’s latest building collapse is another reminder to revamp the revenue and administrative models of our cities

A five-storey building collapsed in Delhi on Saturday. Six people died and 10 were injured. The building was not very old. But it was badly built. On top of that, the owner was adding another floor to earn more rent. In other words, it was like a house of cards waiting to fall.

Was this simply an accident? Many people would call it negligence. But that doesn’t tell the whole story. Government officials are supposed to keep an eye on things like construction, water use, sewage and power connections. Yet somehow, nobody noticed a 50-foot building that was being built and expanded illegally. That’s hard to believe.

The truth is that this was not the only building like it. Many neighbourhoods across India are full of similar structures. This suggests a bigger problem. It is not just that officials are careless. In many cases, they seem willing to ignore violations.

But why is this happening? One reason is that Indian cities are not being planned well enough for a fast-growing economy. More people are moving to cities. More businesses need offices, shops and warehouses. More families need homes. The World Bank estimates that within the next decade, about 60 crore people will live in India’s cities, which will produce around 70% of the country’s income. Cities need room to grow if they are going to support all these people and jobs.

Instead, many rules make building inside cities difficult and expensive. Builders and buyers often move to the suburbs or to poorly planned neighbourhoods because land and housing are cheaper there. Space inside cities is expensive partly because there isn’t enough of it. But that shortage is created by rules that limit how much can be built on a piece of land. For example, Singapore allows much taller and denser buildings than Delhi does.

Experts have been warning about this problem for years. This year’s Economic Survey said that Indian cities are expected to create growth, jobs and productivity, but government policies often get in the way.

As a result, many people end up living or working in unsafe buildings. Another problem is that too many government agencies share responsibility for cities. When everyone is partly responsible, nobody is fully responsible. City governments also do not have enough money to do their jobs properly. So even obvious violations can continue for years.

If we want safer and better cities, we need to fix the way they are governed. The people in charge should have clear authority, and they should be held accountable when things go wrong.

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