Actor Sonu Sood called for urgent changes to student accommodation in Delhi following the collapse of a five-storey building that claimed seven lives. Highlighting the shortage of hostel facilities in the capital, Sonu Sood questioned whether students who move away from home to pursue their ambitions are being provided with safe places to live. Taking to X on Tuesday (September 8), the actor expressed grief over the tragedy while drawing attention to the problem of inadequate student housing.
He pointed out the huge gap between the number of students studying in Delhi and the availability of hostel accommodation.
Sonu questions student safety
"Every year, lakhs of students leave their homes to chase a dream in another city. But are we giving them a safe place to live? In Delhi, around 7 lakh students are enrolled, while hostel capacity is barely 30,000 — just 1 in 31 gets a hostel," Sood wrote.
Sood suggested that vacant government land near universities could be identified for student hostels, while universities could receive additional permissions to build accommodation on their campuses.
He added, "Why not identify vacant government land around universities and allow/build safe, affordable student hostels there? Universities could also be given additional building permissions to create more on-campus accommodation."
Explaining why such a policy could benefit everyone, Sood said, “Students get safety. Parents get peace of mind. Universities and governments generate revenue. And, most importantly, we protect lives. Sometimes, a small change in policy can protect someone’s biggest dream (sic)," he concluded.
His comments come after the collapse of a boys' paying guest accommodation in Delhi's Satya Niketan, near Delhi University's South Campus.
What happened in Delhi?
The five-storey PG accommodation, known as ‘Hostel Daze’, collapsed at around 1:30 pm on September 6. The building was located in a congested lane near a Shiv temple in the RK Puram-Moti Bagh area. According to locals and officials, it was being used as student accommodation, with around 15 rooms and two to three students staying in each room.
By Tuesday morning, the death toll had risen to seven as rescue teams continued searching through the heavy debris.
