70 dead in building crash, but the building does not exist in MCD's records!

I have done a few posts on the corruption in the Municipal Corporation of Delhi. We got to see the biggest consequence of this corruption  on November 15 when an illegally constructed building came crashing down in East Delhi. Seventy persons lost their lives.

Here are some of the earlier posts -
The most corrupt Municipal Corporation of Delhi
Shocking scandal 

The owner-builder of the building has been arrested. But what about the corrupt MCD officers and political masters who would have taken bribes to look the other way so as to have made the building possible? MCD true to its devious ways, is  now saying it has no records of the building! It is a smart and time-tested way to protect one's men. If files go missing, or no records are kept, how would it be proven that the building  existed in the first place?

Some years ago I did a survey of the builder floors in South Delhi. All of them had covered more than the sanctioned area or had more than the stipulated number of floors. Though almost all these buildings had no completion certificate, there were buyers and the properties were being registered by the government.

There there are plenty of buildings standing all over the city flouting norms. I know of two such buildings in my neighbourhood which the MCD made a great show  of  a cosmetic demolition, for these very obviously were protuding on to the common land. But some months later they were all patched up. Yes, the gaping holes in the buildings outer walls made by MCD's demolition squad, were filled and today life goes on in the buildings.  Who benefited in this drama of build-demolish-build? None other than the MCD officers and the politicians.

Delhi is in a high risk earthquake prone zone, and it is makes it all the more necessary that all buildings adhere to some basic norms. But who cares? We are just lucky that there have not been more such cases of building collapse.

An article in the Outlook about MCD stirring to act and the blame game between the two political parties which have ruled the corporation.

This is yet another case of MCD corruption. It would be proper to say of MCD murder. For many lives were lost and families destroyed because of corruption. Will the guilty officers be punished? Wait and watch.

UPDATE: Municipal Corporation of Delhi's ghost employee case

The latest on the ghost employee case -

The Delhi Police has been unable to trace 212 employees, we are informed. What about the thousands of other ghost employees? Have they been tracked? As a reader, I failed to find a clear answer in the reports by the media tracking the case.

However, we learn that the Delhi Police has lodged two FIRs in connection with the alleged existence of ghost employees in the Municipal Corporation of Delhi after making a door-to-door verification of "the total employees whose details were provided by the civic body for investigation", according to a report appearing in The Hindu. What is the number of the "total employees"? Who knows this number?

Standing Counsel Nazmi Waziri appearing for the Delhi Police has said the police were also investigating whether the muster roll of temporary sweepers of the civic body was also inflated as alleged by the petitioner in the matter.

The Bench has directed the police to file a status report on January 19 after conducting the inquiry into the ghost employee case.

It is necessary to point out that a number of possible reasons or excuses are now being given for the ghost employees. We have to wait and watch for the truth to be uncovered.