There comes a point in every child’s life when they are asked: What do you want to become when you grow up? An innocent mind, unaware of society’s expectations and its own limitations, usually answers with complete confidence. I was one of those children. And, perhaps unusually early in life, I decided I wanted to become a journalist. That decision eventually brought me to Delhi in 2020, during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic, when I began college at Delhi University. Coming from Himachal Pradesh, adjusting to Delhi was not easy. But over time, the city grew on me. I began to see it as a place that could absorb people from everywhere and give them a home. On 6 September 2026, that sense of belonging came face-to-face with a much darker reality.
A five-storey PG building collapsed in Satya Niketan, killing seven people, including five Delhi University students. I was on the ground as rescue workers dug through the rubble. Satya Niketan was also where my own Delhi University journey had begun. And watching students being pulled out of the debris made me think about what brought them to Delhi in the first place-their dreams, their ambitions and the homes they had been forced to make in the city.
Satya Niketan is a familiar name to Delhi University students, particularly those studying around South Campus. It is packed with PGs, rental rooms, shops and narrow lanes, and has become one of the many neighbourhoods where students find accommodation because the university cannot house most of them on campus.
It was one of the places where my own Delhi University journey began too in 2020. So when a five-storey building housing a private PG collapsed here on 6 September, killing seven people, I found myself looking at the place differently. The alleys that I remembered as busy and full of students suddenly felt hollow.
Rescue teams pulled 12 people from the rubble, while seven people ultimately lost their lives. As MCD trucks carried away debris and JCBs continued digging through what remained of the building, I could not stop thinking about the people who had lived there. They were students who had come to Delhi to begin a new chapter. Just like many of us.
As we reported from the spot, several students from nearby PGs came to speak to us. They were frightened. Many told us about the conditions in the PGs they were living in, cramped rooms, narrow lanes, limited ventilation and buildings packed closely together. Some spoke about the lack of basic safety infrastructure, including fire exits and fire extinguishers. And then there was the rent. Students told us that they were paying Rs. 15,000 or more a month, sometimes for shared rooms.
For many, moving into a PG was not necessarily a choice. It was what remained after the university housing lottery.
Delhi University has more than 2.5 lakh students enrolled in regular programmes, while its hostel capacity is around 9,000 beds across about 20 hostels. That gap leaves a huge number of students, particularly those coming from outside Delhi, dependent on private accommodation.
Satya Niketan is one of the neighbourhoods that has grown around this demand. The result is a city where students can find a room relatively close to their college but where the safety of that room can be much harder to determine. The collapse brought that reality into focus. The first responders were not always the government. This was another thing that stood out while we were on the ground. Private ambulances were visible at the site, including ambulances operated by Blinkit, while government emergency services were also involved in the rescue operation. Eyewitnesses told us that the initial response began quickly, with locals rushing towards the rubble and attempting to rescue those trapped.
As the rescue operation continued, police, firefighters and disaster-response teams joined the effort, about 1.5 hours later. The situation changed every few minutes. At one point, the crowd suddenly moved aside. An ambulance was making its way through. Another person had been pulled out of the rubble. It was the 12th person pulled from the debris. For a moment, everyone seemed to be hoping for the same thing-that this person would be alive. But the hope did not last. We later learnt that the person had already died.
The rescue operation continued for hours. Students and other injured people were taken to hospitals, including the AIIMS Trauma Centre and RML Hospital.
Outside, families waited. Some had travelled to Delhi after hearing that their children were trapped inside the collapsed building. For many of them, there was no good news.
By the following day, the death toll had risen to seven. Five of those killed were Delhi University students and others were the people working in the building.
The tragedy also sent fear through neighbouring PGs. Parents arrived to take their children away. Students began questioning whether the rooms they had been calling home were actually safe. Some eventually vacated their PGs as concerns over the structural condition of buildings in the area grew.
The Satya Niketan collapse was not only about one building. It exposed a larger problem: what happens when a university has hundreds of thousands of students but only a fraction can access its hostels?
These students came here with many dreams. Standing at the site, I kept returning to the same question. What did these students say when someone first asked them what they wanted to become when they grew up-if they grew up?
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TL;DR | News At A Glance
What happened: A five-storey PG building collapsed in Satya Niketan on 6 September, killing seven people.
Who was affected: Seven people died, including five Delhi University students.
The larger issue: DU has over 2.5 lakh regular students but around 9,000 hostel beds.
What students told us: Nearby PGs are cramped, expensive and lack basic safety infrastructure.
What followed: Students and parents began leaving nearby PGs amid safety fears.
Why it matters: The collapse has renewed questions about Delhi’s student housing shortage and regulation of private PGs.
