Almost five people died per day in building or structural collapses between 2018 and 2022, shows an analysis of the official data by News18. The collapse of ‘dwelling houses’ or residential buildings account for most casualties – more than three deaths per day on average – data from the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) shows.
A total of 8,756 deaths were reported in India due to collapse of structures in the five years between 2018 and 2022, including 5,988 deaths due to the collapse of ‘dwelling houses’ or residential buildings, according to NCRB’s ‘Accidental Deaths & Suicides in India’ data.
On Friday, as Delhi witnessed the arrival of monsoon, an under-construction wall collapsed in southwest Delhi’s Vasant Vihar area. At least three labourers were trapped. Last month, two people were killed after a part of a three-storey building collapsed in Mumbai’s Vikhroli. Earlier this month, two more people died in Mumbai after a portion of a five-storeyed under-construction building collapsed after heavy rains.
In the 2018-2022 period, Delhi had reported highest deaths in structure collapses among all the Union Territories, while among the states, it was either Uttar Pradesh or Maharashtra. Delhi reported 133 deaths in the said period, while Uttar Pradesh registered 1,696 and Maharashtra 1,491. In 2022, Maharashtra accounted for most such deaths among states, it was Uttar Pradesh in the other years.
Deaths in structural collapses reported each year have dropped post-Covid, yet in the period between 2020 and 2022, almost four people were killed per day on average. In 2018 and 2019, it was five deaths per day on average. 2018 reported the highest structural collapse deaths in the five-year period, while 2020 saw the lowest.
Structures whose collapse led to the deaths included houses and residential buildings, official and commercial buildings. It also included deaths due to collapse of dams and collapse of bridges.
Old and weak buildings and structures can collapse during heavy rainfall or during earthquakes. Sometimes, there is no external cause for the collapse.
As per the Delhi Fire Department, the current construction trends and population increases seem to continually expand the risks as people move further up from the ground. With mushrooming of high-rise buildings comes the very real concern of a building collapse.
The building can collapse in two ways – either due to an explosion or an implosion. Explosion is either caused by an outward rush of force during natural events like earthquake or due to an actual explosion in the building.
Implosion means the building will collapse into itself. It is a technique that is used by demolition specialists to minimise the spread of debris when purposely demolishing buildings. This type of collapse is likely to be caused when interior weight bearing elements of structures fail. Such a situation may arise during a major fire, heavy rains or explosion in the adjoining building.
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