Last Updated on 30/07/2024 by Ankita Jain
Three students died due to water logging in the basement of Rao IAS Study Circle in Old Rajendra Nagar area of Central Delhi. These included two girls. The incident happened on Saturday and the government woke up three days later, i.e. on Monday. The central government has constituted a seven-member high-level committee for investigation. This committee will investigate the accident and fix accountability. It will recommend changes in the policy and submit its report to the government within 30 days and will tell what measures should be implemented to prevent such accidents.
Meanwhile, Delhi’s Deputy Governor VK Saxena also reached the spot on Monday and spoke to the students. LG assured that responsibility will be fixed and action will be taken. He announced a compensation of Rs 10 lakh each to the families of the three students killed in the accident. He assured action within 24 hours against the officials of Delhi Fire Service, Police and Delhi Municipal Corporation found guilty for the incident. However, the anger of the students did not subside. They say that we do not want compensation, we want justice.
BJP-Congress on strike against AAP…
On Monday, a lot of politics was seen on this accident. There was a ruckus in the MCD House, due to which the proceedings of the House had to be adjourned. Congress, which contested the general elections in alliance with the ruling Aam Aadmi Party in Delhi, also came into the field and staged a protest. As soon as the MCD meeting was adjourned, BJP-Congress leaders sat on a protest. BJP also surrounded the Kejriwal government. BJP protested outside the AAP office against the Jal Board, Fire Service and MCD. BJP also demanded the resignation of CM Kejriwal. At the same time, Aam Aadmi Party also demanded the dismissal of the officials who allegedly failed to issue instructions to remove silt from the drains and protested near the LG Secretariat.
The matter also echoed in Parliament
This issue was raised in the Parliament and in the Lok Sabha, BJP MP Bansuri Swaraj held the Delhi government responsible. SP supremo Akhilesh Yadav asked, the UP government runs bulldozers on encroachments. Will bulldozers be run here as well? Congress MP Shashi Tharoor said, safety standards have been violated. Drains should be cleaned. Steps should be taken to prevent recurrence of such incidents.
Delhi Police has also given notice to MCD and has sought information. Delhi Police asked, which officer is responsible for the drainage system in Old Rajendra Nagar area? Who looks after the cleaning work in the area? Was anyone given work on contract in the area?
MCD came into action, arrived with a bulldozer
Teams of Delhi Municipal Corporation were also seen in action on Monday. Teams reached the spot with bulldozers and bulldozed the encroachments in coaching centre areas. The encroachment covering the storm water drains in Old Rajinder Nagar has been demolished. This campaign will continue for the next few days. Earlier, MCD teams had sealed about 20 such coaching centres in Old Rajendra Nagar and Mukherjee Nagar, where libraries and classes were being run in the basement. MCD said that the drainage was choked due to encroachment. Many coaching centres constructed buildings and closed the drainage system. One JEN has been fired for negligence. One AEN has been suspended. A show cause notice has been issued to the regional XEN.
Investigation has revealed that excess water had accumulated on the road due to rain. The drains on the roadside were covered by encroachers, due to which cleaning could not be done and when the flood came, the flood came on the roads.
Seven arrests so far?
The police have made seven arrests so far. These include coaching center owner Abhishek Gupta and coordinator Deshpal, four building owners and the driver of the SUV car Manuj Kathuria, due to which the water from the road increased with pressure and broke the gate of the coaching center and entered the basement. All seven accused were presented in the court, from where they have been sent to Tihar Jail in judicial custody for 14 days. The building has four owners. Deputy Commissioner of Police (Central) M Harsh Vardhan said that each floor of the building is owned by different persons. These include the names of Tejinder Singh, Parvinder Singh, Harvinder Singh and Sarabjit Singh.
How did the accident happen?
The deceased on Sunday were identified as Shreya Yadav (22 years) from UP, Tanya Soni (21 years) from Telangana and Navin Dalvin (29 years) from Kerala. Rajendra Nagar police station has registered an FIR under sections of culpable homicide, death due to negligence, negligence in building maintenance and intentional injury. It is clearly written in the police FIR that there was no proper arrangement for drainage of water, so the basement got flooded. There was only one entry-exit point in the basement and the library was running illegally. The remaining task was completed by the biometric system. The biometric system had stopped working due to floods. If the exit was free, the students could have escaped. The basement was filled with 12 feet of water in 3 minutes. Due to lack of drainage system, it took more than five hours to drain out the water during the rescue operation.
Will the agencies be able to prevent accidents?
Now the big question arises that will the agencies that woke up late be able to prevent accidents like Old Rajendra Nagar? Or will such accidents not happen again? Although it is difficult to say, but till now it has been seen that government agencies remain active only for a few days after the accident and claim to strictly enforce the rules. Later the situation becomes the same and the careless system leaves the people on their own. Such accidents in Delhi not only expose the system, but also put people’s lives in danger. Here the responsibility of handling the arrangements lies in the hands of the Central Government, Delhi Government, Lieutenant Governor and Delhi Municipal Corporation. When a major accident occurs, the administration claims to take action. It assures to implement strict rules. Action is also taken against some people, but with time the entire system becomes sluggish. In June 2023 also, a coaching center in Mukherjee Nagar caught fire. To save their lives, students jumped from the third floor of the building. After this incident, everything from the fire brigade’s NOC to the construction work came under question. From the MCD to other investigation agencies, they claimed to have conducted an audit. But after a few days, the same situation arose again and now an accident like Old Rajendra Nagar has put the system under question. There is a long list of such accidents in Delhi.
Meanwhile, after this incident, the Lieutenant Governor’s office said in a statement, a joint task force of MCD and DFS, formed under the order of the Delhi High Court earlier this year, will survey all the buildings in Rajendra Nagar area. It will seal all basements and other illegal structures that are violating the building bylaws, MPD 2021 and fire safety norms.
Complaints were made but were ignored
Investigation has revealed that the clearance certification obtained by the building owner from the MCD clearly stated that the parking below the ground floor and the basement below it would be used only for parking and storage of vehicles. But, instead, a library was being run here. On July 9, the Delhi Fire Service renewed the NOC of this building for three years. Not only this, on June 24, student Kanishka Tiwari had complained to the Public Works Department (PWD) of the Delhi government about waterlogging in the basement of the coaching center. In this complaint, she had highlighted the problem of waterlogging in the area. Kanishka Tiwari was also given confirmation from PWD officials that her complaint has been forwarded to the MCD.
Sources say that the police investigation also revealed that a student had lodged a complaint with the Delhi government a month ago that a library was being run illegally in the basement. However, no action was taken. This is not the first time that rainwater has filled a library. There are many such buildings in Old Rajendra Nagar, in which libraries are being run in the basement and they get filled with rainwater. Police investigation revealed that the building owners had rented out the basement to a coaching centre in 2021. There was no drainage system in the basement. Now the police can question the MCD officials about the clearance certificate.
What to expect from the system….
Agencies need to work at many levels to prevent accidents like Old Rajendra Nagar. Timely action should be taken to prevent such incidents in densely populated areas like Delhi. Regular inspections and better planning are needed. Although these measures cannot completely prevent accidents, but the danger can be reduced to a great extent. Such accidents can be prevented only with the activeness of local agencies and vigilance of citizens.
Strict regulations and inspections: Strict rules should be implemented for construction works and it is important to ensure their regular inspection. For this, the local municipal corporation and development authorities will have to work actively.
Fire Safety: Availability of fire safety equipment in buildings and their proper functioning is important. Every building should have a fire drill and emergency exit plan.
Identification of Vulnerable Areas: Sensitive areas must be identified and special attention must be paid there. It must be ensured that the construction work is safe and the risk of any kind of accident is reduced.
Participation of citizens: Local residents also need to be made aware. It is important to encourage them to report any unsafe activity. Helpline numbers and online platforms can be created for this.
Strength of structure: All old buildings must be checked for structural strength. If any danger is found in any building, it must be repaired immediately.
Active monitoring: The agencies must actively monitor construction sites and take immediate action if any irregularities are found.
Use of modern technology: Construction sites can be monitored and inspected using drones and other technological equipment.
Follow the rules: It should be ensured that all rules related to construction are followed. If any kind of irregularity is found, strict action will be necessary.