Three students preparing for UPSC exam in India’s capital Delhi died on Saturday (July 27) due to water logging in the basement of their coaching institute. The accident took place at RAU’s IAS Coaching Center located in Old Rajendra Nagar. Two girl students and a boy were trapped inside the basement for more than four hours; by the time they were rescued, all three were dead. There is anger among the students after this accident. They protested by raising slogans against Delhi Municipal Corporation, local MLA and councilor.
Delhi Police said that the Honor and Coordinator of RAU’s IAS Study Circle has been arrested. Speaking to news agency ANI, a student said, ‘MCD and the coaching institute are both guilty, they should be held jointly liable.’ Another student told ANI that around 20-25 students were trapped in the basement of the coaching centre. Most came out through their own efforts and some students remained trapped inside. Students studying in RAU’s IAS said that after the accident, no representative of the Delhi government came to meet them, nor took care of them.
A video just before the accident is viral on social media, in which the poor condition of Old Rajendra Nagar is visible after normal rains. Someone has shot this video on his phone right in front of RAU’s IAS Study Circle, in which water is visible all around. The coaching center is situated right next to the road. It can be seen in the video that there is waist-deep water on the road. There is so much water that bikes and scooters are almost drowning. In the viral video, the entry gate of RAU’s IAS coaching center is seen closed.
Water is reaching half of the iron gate. It is being told that some staff of the coaching center had to go home, hence the entry gate was opened. As soon as the gate opened, the water accumulated on the road started filling the basement of the coaching center with a strong force. There was so much water that it took only a few minutes to fill the 12 feet deep basement and the students inside were trapped. In fact, RAU’s IAS Study Circle had maintained its library in the basement of the building itself. That is why so many students were present in the basement.
After the accident, Delhi Mayor Dr Shaili Oberoi directed the MCD Commissioner to close down all such coaching centers across Delhi which are under the jurisdiction of MCD and are running commercial activities in basements, which are violating building rules and norms. Strict action should be taken against them immediately. He said that an immediate investigation has been launched to find out whether any MCD official is responsible for the accident. If any officer is found guilty then strictest action will be taken against him.