‘Don’t send your kids to Delhi’: Grieving families return home shattered after PG collapse

They sent their children to Delhi with dreams of a better education and a brighter future that their small towns could not offer. But after a boys’ PG accommodation collapsed in Satya Niketan, killing seven people, the families of the victims are returning home with a bitter message for anyone still dreaming the same dream: “Don’t send your kids to Delhi.”

The families had struggled to put their children through college in the national capital. Sunday’s collapse of the decades-old building has not only claimed lives and shattered families but also left them questioning whether the city was worth the risk.

For Bhupendra Jaj, who decided to donate one of his son Ankit’s eyes after the other was damaged in the collapse, Delhi has been a profound disappointment.

“We have become completely disappointed. I just want to say to everyone, don’t send your kids to Delhi,” Bhupendra told PTI.

The family of five had endured considerable hardship to provide Ankit with a good education, Jaj said. He recalled that shortly after the building collapsed, one of his son’s friends called the family around 3 pm to ask about him and warned them not to let him return to the area if he was still in Dewas, their hometown in Madhya Pradesh.

“We told him that he had already left for Delhi and had reached there in the morning. We had a lot of trouble just finding his body. Nobody was ready to tell us anything. They showed only two photographs to us when there were more bodies,” Jaj said.

The family has demanded a thorough investigation into the collapse.

The tragedy also prompted them to make a decision that has brought some meaning to their loss. Doctors told them that one of Ankit’s eyes had already been damaged in the collapse, while the other could still be donated.

“We decided at that time itself that we would donate his eye,” Jaj said.

His grandfather, Makhanlal Jaj, blamed the authorities for failing to ensure the safety of the building.

“This (collapse) is complete negligence of the authorities. All such dilapidated buildings should be vacated immediately. After reaching there, we had a hard time searching for him as the authorities did not help us at all,” he said.

“All our hopes were pinned on him... Now what do we have left?” he said.

‘Look what Delhi has done to him’

For the family of 19-year-old Neeraj Bawa, a second-year Bachelor of Arts student at Motilal Nehru College, Delhi too was a choice made in pursuit of education.

A resident of Jammu, Bawa remains admitted to an intensive care unit in critical condition after suffering severe injuries to his lower body.

His cousin Ashok Kumar said the family learnt about the collapse through news reports.

“His father, who has retired from the Army, was watching the news when reports of the building collapse came. At first, he did not pay heed, but slowly it struck him that Neeraj also lived in a PG in that area. After some time, we saw his photograph somewhere. We took a taxi and came here immediately,” Kumar said.

The family had repeatedly asked Neeraj to study in Jammu, but he wanted to come to Delhi to attend a good college.

“Look what Delhi has done to him,” Kumar said.

Bawa lost his mother around a decade ago and is the youngest of four siblings. His father and three sisters have always been protective of him, Kumar said.

His friend and fellow survivor, 19-year-old Nitish Chib, a second-year Bachelor of Commerce student at the same college, is recovering from his injuries and is expected to be discharged soon.

Nitish’s mother, Seema Chib, said her daughter, who had been considering coming to Delhi for studies, has now changed her mind.

“My daughter was thinking of coming to Delhi, but now she has dropped the plan,” she said.

Owner, family members arrested

The more than 27-hour rescue operation at the collapse site concluded on Monday evening after seven people were killed and several others were rescued.

Police have arrested the building owner, 81-year-old Hariram, a retired Indian Air Force sergeant, along with his 75-year-old wife Urmila and their 52-year-old son Mahesh.

They have been booked under charges including culpable homicide, negligence in the upkeep of a structure and endangering the safety of others.

For the families, however, the questions run deeper than individual blame. They had sent their children to Delhi convinced that the city would offer opportunities their own towns could not.

Instead, they are taking their children home carrying a different memory of the national capital — one marked not by possibility, but by a devastating failure of safety and trust.