The death of three IAS aspirants, Shreya Yadav from Uttar Pradesh, Tanya Soni from Telangana, and Nevin Dalvin from Kerala after the flooding of the Rau’s IAS Study Circle coaching institute’s basement has left many shaken.
The incident has brought up some serious concerns about how legal are these coaching institutes, safety precautions, building maintenance, emergency response to natural disasters and more.
On Saturday evening the basement of the coaching centre located in Delhi’s Old Rajinder Nagar, flooded after heavy rainfall, trapping almost 20 students, however, the real tragedy was that three students lost their lives there. The students, who had been studying in the basement which was turned into a library, were trapped when it flooded and eventually succumbed to death.
The Delhi Police has now arrested seven people, including the coaching centre’s owner and coordinator, along with 3 other co-owners and charged them with culpable homicide not amounting to murder and causing death due to negligence.
Another one arrested is the driver of an SUV car that was seen driving past the coaching centre and is claimed to have damaged the institute’s gate after sending a wave of water into it. They’ve all currently been sent to judicial custody for 14 days.
These are some of the things that are not being paid attention to in the Delhi students’ death case.
1. Death Toll Not Accurate
According to a Moneycontrol report, during protests at Old Rajendra Nagar and Karol Bagh on 28th July, where students were demanding justice for the three UPSC students who died during the flooding of a coaching centre, a protester claimed that the death toll was not accurate and police were not giving the correct information regarding the case.
The protester said, “A great tragedy occurred here which we would like to name a mass murderer. It happened due to the negligence of the administration, it happened due to the negligence of the UPSC coaching centre.
So because of all this negligence, all the deaths that have occurred, the real number of the (death) toll is not being reported. We speculate that the number which is reported is quite fake so that our anger should be stopped or reduced.”
2. Complaint Made By Student Earlier
It has also been revealed that Kishor Singh Kushwah, a civil service aspirant, had written to the Centre, the state government and the Municipal Corporation of Delhi highlighting the illegal activity of the centre and how it was very risky for the students and staff almost a month ago.
Kushwah had sent the complaint to Kumar Mahendra, executive engineer of the building department in the Karol Bagh zone and stated how Rau’s IAS was using the basement for classes without having a permitted ‘No-Objection Certificate’ on June 26, 2024.
Filing the complaint on the Public Grievance Portal, he brought up how coaching centres from Old Rajinder Nagar and South Patel Nagar were illegally using their basement for classes.
He wrote “Despite not having permission, they are running a classroom without NOC (No Objection Certificate) in the basement. They are running test classes, which are affecting the lives of students and staff. There is a possibility of a major accident… big UPSC coaching institutes are running classes at illegal places by putting the lives of the students at risk.”
When this complaint was ignored, he filed two more on 15th July and 22nd July saying, “Sir, it’s very important and urgent issue, take strict action on it” and “Sir, please take action, it’s (an) issue of student safety” respectively.
Speaking with IANS Kushwah said, “If the administration acted in time, this tragedy could have been avoided.” He further aggrieved, “If they had taken strict action, this would not have happened. Officials of the administration take bribes and give clearance to such coaching centres and they never check if the rules are being followed. MCD is 100 per cent responsible.”
Watch: "A complaint was filed against Rau Coaching Institute a month ago regarding the illegal operation of a library, but no action was taken, If action had been taken earlier, this incident would not have occurred, " says Kishore (student) pic.twitter.com/2WYQb8kUEy
— IANS (@ians_india) July 28, 2024
Read More: Has Medical Education Become A Dirty Business In India?
3. Centre Illegally Using Basement As Library
According to the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD), basements are not allowed to have commercial activities and are only allowed to be used for storage or parking.
As per reports, the completion certificate of the building where Rau’s IAS Study Circle was located revealed that the basement was permitted “only to house two staircases, two lifts and two lift lobbies, a parking bay, a car lift and household storage”. Reports state that not only did the coaching centre violate building by-laws but also disregarded fire clearance conditions.
A statement by MCD states “It did not provide free access. It used storage as the place for coaching/ library. Had it followed the norms of approval, the tragedy would have been averted.
This coaching centre and other buildings along the road have unfortunately encroached and covered the storm drains by extending their buildings in the form of platforms and ramps, thereby making draining of water difficult and cleaning of drains impossible.”
4. Student’s Letter To Chief Justice DY Chandrachud
Avinash Dubey, a civil services aspirant, has also written to the Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud explaining the situation and what students are going through at these coaching centres.
Dubey wrote, “I humbly request you to take action against those responsible for the death of three students and protect our fundamental rights.” Dubey further wrote how the issue of waterlogging is quite common in these areas, however, and that the experience is almost like living in hell.
He said, “Due to rain, the basement got filled with water and three students lost their lives. Sir, areas like Mukherjee Nagar and Rajendra Nagar are facing the problem of waterlogging every year for many years due to the negligence of the Municipal Corporation. We have to walk in knee-deep drain water… today students like us are preparing for (our exams) while living a life of hell…”
Dubey added how “Students like us are moving towards our goal by any means. But yesterday’s incident proved the lives of students are not safe… Delhi government and Municipal Corporation force us to live a life like (insects)…”
He also commented that it is the right of the students to study while staying alive and not fear for their safety but that the administration and the municipality are not paying attention.
Dubey wrote “Sir… it is our fundamental right to study while living a healthy life. Unfortunately, the Delhi government and municipality are completely indifferent to this. The above incident is extremely heart-rending and worrying. Due to waterlogging, there is a serious threat to the safety and health of students studying in (such) centres… students need a safe and healthy environment so they can study without fear, and contribute to the development of the country.”
The student has urged the CJI to see that the Supreme Court takes immediate action and steps to solve this problem permanently along with making sure to improve emergency and medical response measures and “Proper evacuation routes should (also) be ensured”.
5. Not The First Time
This is not the first time that a student has lost their life due to bad maintenance of such things. Locals have on various occasions pointed out how drains in several areas are clogged, with silt and more leading to the roading often getting flooded during rainy weather.
The MCD blames this on encroachers who cover the drains and prevent stormwater from draining out.
Negligence of administration, people operating businesses illegally on residential property, not giving proper attention to safety measures like drainage, electricity coverage, maintenance of property, inadequate emergency exits, and operating without proper permissions and paperwork all create a very hazardous condition and put the lives of people inside the building and outside at very high risk.
In June of 2023, a fire broke out at a four-storey coaching institute in Mukherjee Nagar, Delhi due to an electric meter where students attempted to jump out of windows to get to safety. Videos of it went viral at the time where students could be seen trying to climb out of windows and 61 students were reported to be injured during this.
The fire department also revealed that coaching centres in the building did not have a fire no-objection certificate (NOC) because “There is no clarity on which agency regulates coaching centres, because of which no one has ever applied for an NOC with us,” as said by Atul Garg, Delhi Fire Service Director.
The building affected was the Bhandari House located in Batra Complex and housed two large coaching centres, a bunch of smaller institutes, a library, an office, and some shops according to reports all squashed into the same complex.
On 27th September 2023, a fire broke out in a girls’ paying guest (PG) facility in Delhi’s Mukherjee Nagar trapping around 35 girls inside.
As per Delhi Fire Service Director, Atul Garg, “It seems that the fire started from a meter board installed near the staircase and spread to the upper floors” and it was found that the building was not up to standards in fire safety measures.
In July 2024, a UPSC aspirant lost his life due to electrocution in South Patel Nagar. Nilesh (26) was returning to his PG accommodation after a study session but when he touched an iron gate he was electrocuted and died.
Upon investigation, it was revealed that a red wire with damaged insulation of a water pump installed in the neighbour’s house came in contact with the iron gate leading to a reaction and when the victim touched the gate he was electrocuted.
The area also being waterlogged after heavy rainfall is said to have worsened the situation. This particular block in Patel Nagar is also densely packed with UPSC coaching centres, residential buildings turned into PG accommodations and “building owners have installed extensive wiring networks for air conditioning, internet services, and other amenities” as per reports.
The MCD has also sealed the basements of 13 coaching centres in Rajinder Nagar and closeby areas for not adhering to safety rules.
Besides Rau’s IAS Study Circle, the other institutes include IAS Gurukul, Chahal Academy, Plutus Academy, Sai Trading, IAS Setu, Topper’s Academy, Dainik Samvad, Civils Daily IAS, Career Power, 99 Notes, Vidya Guru, Guidance IAS, and Easy for IAS.
MCD in a statement said that this is because “These coaching centres were found to be operating in basements in violation of rules and they were sealed on the spot and notices were pasted”.
Image Credits: Google Images
Feature image designed by Saudamini Seth
Sources: Moneycontrol, Hindustan Times, NDTV
Find the blogger: @chirali_08
This post is tagged under: Delhi Coaching Centre, Delhi, Coaching Centre, Delhi news, Delhi students death, delhi student news, delhi student death, delhi student protest, delhi student death case, delhi coaching centre, upsc, upsc aspirant, Supreme court, Delhi basement deaths, chief justice dy chandrachud, Rau’s IAS Study Circle, rajinder nagar coaching centre flooding
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