A five storey building in east Delhi collapsed last Tuesday killing 66 people and injuring another 71. Seems that either the whole building was constructed illegally or extra floors were added for which there was no permission. A few months back a building in Kolkata caught fire killing dozens of people. Again two extra floors had been added illegally by the landlord. A judicial probe has been ordered into the collapsed building in Delhi which will take years and cost millions to come to any conclusion by which time everyone would have forgotten about the incident except families of the dead who will be running around looking for justice. How can anyone build a five storey building without coming to the notice of officials? Clearly large sums of money changed hands as is always the case in India. The reason is the phenomenal price of property. It is not just sleazy criminals who are grabbing land but even so called respectable people. A visit to Vasant Kunj in upper class south Delhi will immediately show that every building constructed by the DDA has illegal constructions. The buildings are four storey each with flats on each floor. The owners of the third floor flats have all constructed extra rooms on the roof thus adding at least Rs. 5 million to the value of their flats. Whether the buildings have strong enough foundations to carry this extra weight is not known and Delhi, being in a grade 5 earthquake zone, is a disaster waiting to happen. The illegal constructions are visible to all but nothing has been done to stop them. At the very least these people should be made to pay market rate for the extra rooms. Sadly every government fellow is a thief.