The Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) raided suspected unauthorised paying guest (PG) accommodations in Laxmi Nagar and Vishwas Nagar and conducted structural surveys in Laxmi Nagar on Tuesday, 8 September 2026.

The crackdown followed the Sunday collapse of a five-storey student PG in Satya Niketan, South Delhi. Seven people died and 12 were rescued; the rescue operation lasted around 27 hours and ended Monday. Renovation work was reportedly underway. An FIR at South Campus police station cited Sections 105, 290 and 125(a) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita. It alleged four extra floors had been added despite concerns about the decades-old foundation’s load-bearing capacity. Police arrested owner Hariram Gupta, his wife Urmila Gupta and their son Mahesh Gupta in Rajasthan. A court remanded Hariram and Urmila to 14 days’ judicial custody and Mahesh to two days’ police custody. Investigators are examining the family’s alleged role in managing the PG and renovation work.

Two days after a hostel building collapse in Satya Niketan killed seven people, the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) launched a crackdown on unauthorised paying guest (PG) accommodations in Laxmi Nagar and Vishwas Nagar on Tuesday.

New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) has finalised and approved bye-laws and completed technical preparations for a uniform property tax system, expected to take effect in the coming weeks after a Municipal Valuation Committee is constituted. NDMC updated its online tax platform and tested it with the National Informatics Centre.

Amendments to the NDMC Act, 1994, under the Jan Vishwas (Amendment of Provisions) Bill, 2026, require all properties to be assessed using the Unit Area Method (UAM). About 5% of properties were still assessed under the old rateable-value method, while the rest used UAM; the two systems had led to litigation.

The committee will have two to six members, including the NDMC chairperson, and recommend base values for vacant land and buildings and methods for determining and revising tax. Liability will be based on built-up area, location, colony category, usage, and residential or commercial status—not estimated rental value. NDMC will notify rates and categories and integrate them into its tax systems.

AAP has never won Vishwas Nagar in three Delhi assembly elections. BJP’s OP Sharma won in 2013, 2015 and 2020, by more than 10,000 votes in 2015 and 16,000 in 2020. AAP has fielded local businessman Deepak Singhal, 38; Congress candidate Rajiv Chaudhary, 57, is also contesting. Sharma said he oversaw ₹8,000 crore of constituency works in five years; candidates pledged to address water and sewage problems.

The constituency has 204,780 voters: 108,057 men, 96,714 women and nine third-gender electors. It includes Preet Vihar, Anand Vihar, IP Extension, Jagriti Enclave, Swastha Vihar, Pushpanjali, Bahubali Enclave and Ram Vihar, as well as Karkardooma, Ghazipur, Hasanpur, Arya Nagar and Harijan Basti.

Residents cited damaged roads, sanitation, encroachment, parking, sewage overflow and traffic on Vikas Marg. They said the Ghazipur landfill causes foul air and polluted groundwater; landfill-flattening work has slowed. Arya Nagar residents reported dirty or interrupted water supplies, while residents raised concerns about stray cattle and mobile and chain-snatching.