Massive protests erupt in Delhi after death of IAS aspirants in flooding, students demand immediate action against authorities

A wave of student-led protests swept through the streets of Delhi after the tragic deaths of three civil services aspirants at a coaching institute in the capital city. Voicing safety concerns, students demanded for accountability and action from the Delhi government. 

Questions over the "negligence" of the Delhi government were raised by the students of Rao's IAS Study Circle and other institutes. 

Slogans were raised against authorities outside the coaching centre over the deaths in the basement. Members of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) staged a protest outside the home of Delhi Mayor Shelly Oberoi. 

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Heavy force were deployed at Delhi Karol Bagh Metro Station amid students protest. Police also detained some protesting students to disperse the crowd. 

"The biggest responsibility of the incident lies with Rao IAS Study Circle as the incident took place there...There is a systemic problem in these coaching centres with a lack of interest in safety measures," said a student. 

“We are literally endangering our lives by paying money,” said another protesting student. 

Another IAS aspirant said, "There are no fire exits or emergency exits. Those with a bright future are at risk. We want to serve the nation by joining the bureaucracy, and if the system doesn't work for us, we will lose faith in it.”

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With the civic authorities under fire, an MCD official said that the storm drains built to carry away excess water in heavy rains were covered by encroachers. The locals in the affected area had complained that the drainage system was heavily clogged with silt and overflowed leading to a flood-like situation. 

Shreya Yadav of Ambedkar Nagar in Uttar Pradesh, Tanya Soni from Telangana, and Navin Dalwin from Ernakulam in Kerala died in the basement flooding following the heavy rain in Delhi's Old Rajinder Nagar area.

The preliminary investigations revealed that several students were present in the ‘illegal’ basement library when the water suddenly flooded the area.

According to police, the owner and the coordinator of the coaching centre were arrested on Sunday.

Oberoi has directed MCD Commissioner Ashwani Kumar to take strict action against commercial activities run in the basements and ascertain if an MCD official is responsible for the incident. A high-level committee will probe the incident, she said.