The Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) has sealed at least 13 "illegal" coaching centres in Delhi's Old Rajinder Nagar after three civil service aspirants died in the flooding of the basement of a coaching institute in the same area.
The action by the civic body, which continued till late Sunday night, came after three students – Tania Soni, Shreya Yadav and Navin Delvin – were killed when water suddenly gushed into the basement of Rau's IAS Study Circle on Saturday evening.
The coaching centres that were sealed included 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.
"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," an order by MCD Mayor Shaili Oberoi said.
The Rau’s IAS Study Circle was already sealed by the police and its owner and the coordinator have been arrested and charged with culpable homicide.
Delhi Coaching Centre Deaths
Tania Soni, Shreya Yadav — both aged 25 — and Navin Delvin, 28 when water gushed into Rau's IAS Study Circle's basement – being used as a library in violation of rules.
Several other students were trapped in the waterlogged basement and were rescued after a seven-hour-long operation.
Tanya, who had come from Telangana, was a native of Bihar's Aurangabad and a student of Delhi University, according to reports. She had been staying at a women's hostel of Delhi University's Maharaja Agrasen College and had taken admission to the coaching institute one and a half months ago.
Shreya Yadav was a native of Uttar Pradesh’s Ambedkar Nagar. She earlier used to stay at a PG Hostel in west Delhi’s Shadipur area and had taken admission to the coaching institute two months ago. She had done her BSc in agriculture from a college in Uttar Pradesh.
Nevin, from Ernakulam in Kerala, was pursuing PhD in Arts and Aesthetics from Jawaharlal Nehru University. He had joined the coaching institute eight months ago but had been staying in rented accommodation near the university in the Vasant Kunj area.
How Delhi Coaching Centre Put Lives In Danger
The investigations so far have indicated multiple lapses on the part of the coaching centre's owner and civic authorities.
The Rau’s IAS Study Circle centre got a No-Objection Certificate from the Municipal Corporation of Delhi in August 2021. The certificate, accessed by NDTV, underlines that the basement is for parking use and household storage.
The coaching centre for civil service aspirants got an NOC from the fire department earlier this month. This document, also accessed by NDTV, mentions that the building has complied with fire safety requirements. It adds that the basement should be used strictly as per building bye-laws.
The building bye-laws lay down that adequate arrangements shall be made to ensure surface drainage does not enter the basement. It also added that if the basement is used for office and commercial purposes, there should be a sufficient number of exit ways and access ways. In the case of the Rajinder Nagar coaching, there was only one entry/exit.
Even as the police are probing the cause behind the flooding, locals blame the poor drainage system in the area. They say it was heavily clogged with silt and overflowed leading to a flood-like situation following rains.
The coaching centre owner Abhishek Gupta and coordinator Deshpal Singh have been remanded the duo in 14 days of judicial custody.
Police have registered a case under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) sections 105 (culpable homicide), 106(1) (death of any person by doing any rash or negligent act not amounting to culpable homicide), 115(2) (punishment for voluntarily causing hurt) and 290 (negligent conduct with respect to pulling down, repairing or constructing buildings).