Structure was tilting but owner wasn't bothered, says Other residents

Usually, Balkar Singh sleeps in his room. On Saturday night, however, he decided to sleep in his son's room. Luck must have been on his side for Singh decided to sleep on the floor, leaving the bed for his son Harpreet, who was yet to come home from work.

Late in the night, the building adjacent to Singh's house came down like a pack of cards, causing extensive damage to his house. In fact, Harpreet's empty bed was strewn with debris, which would have injured Singh severly, had he been sleeping on the bed.

"I was sleeping when the roof collapsed. Pieces of debris fell on my head and I rushed out to save my life," Singh said. "The wall of the collapsed building fell on our roof. Many electronic appliances, including a refrigerator, microwave, and a television were damaged as well," he added.

Singh further claimed that the owner of the collapsed three-storeyed building was illegally constructing another floor on top, though only a tin roof had been installed uptill now.

Other residents alleged that the building was tilting towards one side but the owner didn't bother about it, and even threatened the neighbours, warning them against complaining to the authorities concerned.