New Delhi: The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) has announced an ex gratia payment of Rs 5 lakh to the family of Manoj Sharma, also known as Pappu, a 45-year-old man who died following the collapse of a building near Pul Mithai in North Delhi’s Lohia Chowk area early Friday morning.
Manoj Sharma was an employee at shop number 7A, owned by Gulshan Mahajan, where he had been working for the past 30 years.
The collapsed structure, situated at Tokri Walan in Pul Mithai near Bara Hindu Rao, consisted of three shops on the ground floor and storage rooms on the first floor.
These shops, located in the Azad Market area and dealing in bags and canvas cloth, had been identified as unsafe and had been evacuated prior to the incident. The building fell within the influence zone of ongoing tunneling work for the Delhi Metro’s Janakpuri West-RK Ashram Marg corridor.
According to DMRC, building owners had been warned about the poor condition of the structures in letters sent on June 12, 2025, urging them to evacuate for safety reasons. The buildings were evacuated accordingly. To reduce risks during tunnelling, DMRC had also conducted subsoil grouting and placed external supports at the site.
Despite these safety measures, the buildings collapsed during the night, prompting immediate rescue and debris clearance efforts with assistance from the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and Delhi Police. The area has been cordoned off to ensure safety.
The tunneling work at the site is being carried out by M/s AFCONS, and DMRC has stated that a thorough investigation into the incident will be conducted. Additionally, police have registered an FIR under relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), and an inquiry is underway to determine the cause of the collapse.