I Went Looking For A PG In Delhi's Kamla Nagar. Here's What I Found

I had barely entered Kamla Nagar in North Delhi, navigating through scores of street-side stalls selling clothes for as little as Rs 200, when a woman spotted me lingering outside a cluster of hostels and paying-guest (PG) accommodations."PG dekh rahe ho? (Are you looking for PGs?)" she asked.I nodded."Aaiye, main dikhati hu (Come, I'll show you around)."She then excused herself to park a lemon soda cart on the side and soon led me through lanes with vertical houses conjoined and signboards promising economical PGs with "all facilities". Within minutes, I became a first-year student or a "prospective customer", who was being sold the dream of a fully furnished home-like stay in the national capital starting at Rs 8,500 and going up to Rs 38,000 a month. Advertisement - Scroll to continue NDTV Investigation: The Housing Journey"Aap ka PG hai? (Is it your PG?)" I asked.She was a lemon soda vendor, who doubled up as a broker for nearby PGs for commission ranging between Rs 1,000 to Rs 2,000. For a fresher arriving in Delhi, brokers parked outside colleges and student housing societies become the first point of contact.Putting her lemon soda business on hold, she led me to a woman named Pooja, a warden of a ground + four-storey girls PG. I was shown beds in the range of Rs 16,500 to Rs 19,000 a month in a double and triple sharing occupancy. The rooms came with ACs, attached washrooms, study tables, wardrobes and four meals a day.Advertisement - Scroll to continueThe package included WiFi, washing machine and induction cooktop on every floor.On paper, the PG appeared to offer everything a student would need. A closer look, however, revealed several concerns.The mess or common area built on the fourth floor of the building was under construction and was open from one side, bringing in heat and dust. An additional floor was being built.Open mess at a PG in Kamla Nagar.Students were charged Rs 14 per unit of electricity per room as opposed to the domestic electricity rates in Delhi ranging between Rs 3 and Rs 8 per unit and commercial electricity rates between Rs 6.50 and Rs 9.50 per unit. The rooms had little to no ventilation. The windows opened inside the property, barely giving a view of the outside world.When I expressed budget constraints, Pooja agreed to some discount, though not enough for my pocket. The lemon soda vendor, however, had more to offer.She took me to "Golden Homes", PG for girls offering bed for Rs 13,000 to Rs 14,000, with various permutations and combinations - with or without attached washroom, small or big, double sharing or triple."We don't sign any rent agreement; that's the best part about our facility," boasted an official at Golden Homes. "Almost all PGs here make you sign an agreement with 11-month lock-in period. Here, you give us one month notice and you are free to leave."From the reception, I was taken through an alley so narrow that only one person could walk abreast. On the right were two bedrooms, just enough to host two small single beds, study tables and wardrobes. The room was so cramped that opening a wardrobe left little space to move around comfortably. On my left were washrooms for the occupants of these bedrooms.An alley with two bedrooms on the right and washrooms on the left.The rooms carried a stale, musty smell, as though they had remained shut for days, made more noticeable by the lack of ventilation. Another matchbox-sized room, right next to the passage had a small window for "ventilation" but opened into the alley.A bedroom for two with a window for ventilation.The narrow passage raised questions about ease of evacuation and access for emergency responders in case a Satya Niketan like tragedy occurred, where a boys' hostel collapsed, killing seven, including five students.The rooms visited by NDTV were starkly different than some of the images displayed on the property's website.In pictures on the website, the bedroom looks more spacious and premium than how it isThe lemon soda woman could see I was disappointed with the size of the room and how claustrophobic they made me feel. She still had to do business. So, she offered to show me more options, but I thanked her and decided to continue my search on my own.Few hundred meters down the lane, I stopped outside "Gayatri Sadan", a family-run girls PG, where anyone could enter the building as and when they liked. Here, the question of safety was brushed away in the name of "family" and the power of "Gurjar", a community from Haryana."You can question anything, but safety," said the woman who managed the accommodation and lived with her extended family on the third and fourth floor. "This is not a PG, it's our home."The common room on the first floor welcomed me with a broken computer table parked on the side and clothes hanging across the hall. Coolers stood outside every bedroom, but the lack of ventilation meant the room felt humid rather than airy.Inside Gayatri Sadan, girls PG in Kamla Nagar"Is there no study table?" I asked."We are also charging less," the woman exclaimed as she showed me one room after another and then came the common washroom. The most astonishing part, which according to the landlord was one of the qualities of the house, was that the washroom was open on one side. A cane wall stood as a temporary partition, allowing neighbours a view inside.Common bathroom and washroom at Gayatri Sadan PG in Kamla NagarWhen questioned about the small size of wardrobe, a judgmental remark came my way, "You're a first-year student, right? Do you have so many clothes?" followed by hysterical laughter.A bedroom for three with each bed costing Rs 8,500After visiting PGs charging anywhere between Rs 8,500 to Rs 38,000 a month for a bed, I was clear: the more the budget, the more space and privacy you get. Bigger room, cleaner washroom, better furnishing, decent food, balcony, AC, recreational space, gym, housekeeping, laundry, and CCTV surveillance.Inside a premium PG in Kamla NagarIn every PG visited by NDTV, the conversation began with amenities. Nothing in the sales pitch was about safety and how secure the building was.Higher rent may mean better amenities but does not automatically translate to safer buildings with fire extinguishers, evacuation plans, structural certifications, and publicly displayed no-objection certificates (NOCs).Students looking for accommodation rarely ask about these either.The Search For A 'Home'When Eshani Bardhan moved from Siliguri in West Bengal to Delhi to study Zoology at the University of Delhi (DU), she was clear, she wanted a well-lit room with windows she could open every morning for natural light to come in."I have grown up in a house where in the morning we never needed artificial light. Without natural light, it becomes quite depressing for me," Eshani told NDTV. "I came to Delhi on August 26 and checked several PGs - some were congested, some felt like garage, and others were simply expensive like Garg living where rent ranges between Rs 30,000 to Rs 38,000."A premium PG in Kamla Nagar where a bed costs anywhere between Rs 30,000 and Rs 38,000.For Eshani, it is the first time living away from her family in a city that is infamous for crimes against women. To ensure their daughter's safety, Eshani's parents have access to her live location all the time."Fire safety or disaster preparedness was not a part of any of our conversations," she confessed. "However, Satya Niketan incident makes me question the safety of my PG. When incidents happen, they make you aware and question at the same time."When Riya Kumari moved from Patna to study at DU's South Campus in 2025, she chose a PG in Satya Niketan.A year later, on September 6, a boy's PG, few meters away from her, collapsed after the foundation weakened, sending shockwaves to an otherwise bustling student area. Following this, Riya temporarily moved to her cousin's and is now waiting for her graduation to finish and leave the city."I'm spending Rs 2 lakh per annum on lodging while my college fee is barely Rs 20,000. And the living conditions are abysmal. There is barely any space between houses here. Neither the air is clean nor water. Waste is strewn across. A little rain leads to waterlogging on the roads. Children are dying. Who would like to live here?"Riya too never questioned the standard of living and safety until a tragedy hit close to home.Pooja (name changed), a literature student, came to DU for the exposure the central university offers. The vision of Delhi she had before coming to the capital was broken soon after she moved to Gayatri Sadan in Kamla Nagar. The PG was shortlisted by a relative and she now feels trapped by the 11-month lock-in period."Aunty keeps saying this PG is like a family, but it doesn't feel that way," she said. "The focus is always on rent. For breakfast, we get hard parathas and a cup of tea with barely any milk. Lunch is usually watery dal and a vegetable. If you're late and the food runs out, that's your problem. Which family lets its children go to bed hungry?""The washrooms are often filthy. The sinks get clogged and water spills onto the floor. As a DU student, I don't think it's unreasonable to expect basic hygiene and safe accommodation. Right now, I don't feel this area is particularly safe."Vertical homes, cramped rooms, narrow alleysPooja's parents are concerned about her safety ever since a hostel collapsed in South Campus and often check on her."I too am worried, but I console myself by thinking that owners also living in the same building. So, if something happens to us, they will go down with us."Another first-year student from Haryana said she was more worried about finding the right PG than her admission. She believes colleges should take responsibility for accommodation.What PG Owners Have To SayNDTV contacted the owners of the PGs and questioned them about safety based on what the team saw on the ground. Rohit Arya from Golden Homes acknowledged that the PG doesn't have a separate fire exit. He, however, claimed to have fire extinguisher installed, something NDTV did not observe during its visit. Arya was asked to share pictures of fire extinguishers which he did not at the time of filing the report.Arya said the occupancy was 40. During NDTV's visit, however, staff members stated that the PG housed up to 72 residents.Upon questioning about the exorbitant price, Garg defended it with facilities and made a comparison to flats costing over a lakh in the financial capital Mumbai."You can get a PG for Rs 10,000 also. We have a strong building, balcony and a separate exit," he said.Team NDTV did see a staircase on the fourth floor but was told that it is not a fire exit and always remains shut. On phone, Garg refuted the claim.At Gayatri Sadan, we saw a gas cylinder and stove inside the common room for girls to cook if they liked, but fire extinguisher was missing. Over the phone, the in charge, however, claimed to have passed all security checks.A gas cylinder kept inside the living room of a PG in Kamla Nagar.The woman also said that PG is only on first and second floor, but the NDTV investigation found at least eight students living on the ground floor also. According to a student living there, during heavy rain, water seeps into their rooms."A couple of days ago water accumulated in one of the rooms on the ground floor and a girl was asked to temporarily move to a vacant room on the first floor," said a student.Barely 15 days in the city, Eshani already has some advice for students: "Do not go buy words of PG owners. They are good liars. They will show true colours the day your parents drop you at the hostel and leave. All your requests will fall on deaf ears."Look Beyond Amenities: ExpertsWhile most students focus on rent, proximity to the college, amenities and interiors, the quality of the building and the safety deserve equal attention, says Mayank Bajaj, Founder of Livlit, a co-living space."Tenants should look for visible signs such as significant cracks, persistent dampness, water seepage, loose plaster or unusual settlement. While every crack does not indicate a structural problem, anything substantial or recurring should be assessed," said Rajesh Kumar, a Civil Engineer with over 27 years of experience.Kumar believes the property should not be excessively congested. Adequate space, clear access to staircases and corridors, and unobstructed entry and exit routes are important from a safety standpoint, particularly in multi-storey buildings.Additionally, Bajaj recommends understanding the building's fire-safety measures, emergency exits, security systems, access controls, lifts and backup power.In Kamla Nagar, a student can compare room sizes, food menus and WiFi speeds within minutes. Determining how safe a building is may be far more difficult.For thousands of students arriving in Delhi every year, the journey often begins exactly where mine did, with a stranger approaching them and asking, "PG dekh rahe ho?"