The death of three IAS aspirants in an IAS coaching centre in Delhi's Old Rajinder Nagar area has thrown up questions about how 16-17 students got trapped inside the basement which got flooded in minutes. While the police have begun a probe into the tragic incident, many point fingers at the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) for its alleged apathy in carrying out the cleaning of drainages.
There were reportedly 30 students at the coaching centre during the mishap. Twenty-seven either escaped or were rescued but the three got trapped.
As of Sunday morning when the rescue operation neared conclusion, three bodies, 2 females and one male, have been recovered. The Delhi Police said the NDRF and Fire services rescued 13-14 people and all of them were out of danger. "The water is being pumped out continuously and the level remains at 7 feet. One final round of search remains," DCP Central Harshavardhan told reporters.
Also read: Three IAS aspirants die after basement of coaching centre in Delhi gets flooded
He said they were investigating how the entire basement was flooded, It appeared as though the basement got flooded very fast due to which some people were trapped inside.
#WATCH | Old Rajender Nagar Incident | Delhi: Students protest against the Delhi government, MCD and the coaching institute where three students lost their lives after the basement of the institute was filled with water yesterday pic.twitter.com/UtOGL0LBj8
— ANI (@ANI) July 28, 2024
UNBELIEVABLE. One IAS aspirant dead and 2 others still missing after basement of IAS coaching centre in Delhi's Karol Bagh floods with after heavy rainfall. pic.twitter.com/LLiuOckPTN
— Shiv Aroor (@ShivAroor) July 27, 2024
A preliminary probe revealed that the basement housed a library. Once it began raining, the basement flooded and the furniture in the coaching centre started floating. This created an obstruction in the rescue operation and ropes had to be used to evacuate the trapped students.
Delhi Fire Services director Atul Garg said the rescue operations took long because the water from the road kept flowing into the basement. "The basement was full of water. We tried to pump out the water but water from the road kept flowing into the basement. It took a lot of time. Once the water on the road receded, we pumped out the water from the basement. This reduced the water level from 12 feet to 8 feet. Only then could we retrieve the bodies. We have pumped out all the water and the rescue operation is over," he said, adding that how the water filled up the basement was a matter of inquiry.
On what caused the incident, Delhi Mayor Shelly Oberoi said the drainage or sewer blasted, resulting in something like a flash flood that filled the basement. The investigation is underway and things will become clear in some time. We will not spare anyone who is responsible, MCD or any other department, for the mismanagement," Oberoi added.
A student protesting against the MCD on Sunday morning said 80% of libraries were in the basements. "It just needs 10 minutes of rain for water to get logged here. Why hasn't the MCD acted against this," the student told ANI.
Another student cited the accident as a result of the negligence of the authorities. "This isn't a disaster but negligence. Thirty minutes of rain and water gets knee-deep high. My landlord said he had been asking the councillor for the last 10-12 days to take steps to clean up the drain. We demand that action be taken against the culprits," the student added.
The BJP too cited the non-cleaning of drains for the incident, stating that the drain water has backflowed into the basement of the coaching centre at a very high speed as it started raining heavily.
