The collapse of a five-storey building housing students in Satya Niketan on Sunday has brought renewed scrutiny to the cramped living spaces and the compromises students make in the absence of affordable hostel accommodation.
In Delhi’s student hubs, narrow lanes, ageing buildings pressed against each other, dangling electricity and cable wires, and rooms carved out wherever space permits have become a familiar reality. For thousands of outstation students arriving in the Capital each year, these converted houses and tightly packed buildings are often the only affordable options, with a bed in a shared room costing anywhere from ₹12,000 to over ₹24,000 a month.
Near Delhi University’s (DU) South Campus, Satya Niketan is a maze of small shops, property dealers, old buildings and newer constructions connected by uneven roads.
Unnayan, who moved to Delhi last month, lives about 100 metres from the collapsed building. He paid ₹14,000 this month, including the security deposit, for a bed on the fifth floor, where he no longer wants to live.
“I chose the fifth floor and have to go up and down the stairs because the lower floors were more expensive. A bed on the second floor cost ₹17,000, and the first floor was even more expensive,” he said.
