Last Updated on 28/07/2024 by Ankita Jain
Rouse IAS is a very famous coaching centre in Old Rajendra Nagar, Delhi, which is considered to be the hub of UPSC coaching. Like almost every coaching centre in this area, it also has a library in the basement. Students come here to study for the highest post in the country. During the rain on Saturday evening, the entire area was waterlogged. The place outside the coaching centre is much higher than the road. There is parking on the ground floor here. There is a way to go to the basement from this parking.
The coaching centre’s library is in this basement. Students who prepare here come here every day. A student present in the basement during this accident said that the students called the police at 6:40 pm, but by the time help arrived, it was already 9 pm. When the fire brigade got information about water entering the coaching centre, there was chaos. The basement was filled with water up to 10 to 12 feet. Students were evacuated with the help of ropes.
The NDRF team also reached the spot. But three students were not traceable. The help of divers was taken for the search. By around 1.30 am, the bodies of three students had been taken out from the basement. Pumps were installed to remove the water. The work of removing water from the basement continued throughout the night. The work of cleaning the drainage continued till daybreak. But the question is that when there was waterlogging outside due to rain, what was the administration of the coaching center doing?
What were the arrangements for water drainage in the coaching institute? Where do coaching institutes get the courage to be so irresponsible that they are not afraid to play with the lives of students even after taking lakhs of rupees as fees? Was permission taken to run a library in the basement here? If not, then what was the police-administration doing? Was this not noticed earlier, when similar libraries are being run openly in basements in this entire area.
After this incident, the police may have arrested the coaching centre owner Abhishek Gupta and the coordinator Deshpal Singh, but the real culprit is the system. If the system was right, such an accident would never have happened. Today, there is mourning in the homes of those three students who lost their lives in this accident. Just imagine what the family must have gone through when they saw this painful scene in the news? What must the parents be going through, whose world of dreams died an untimely death? Whether it is Delhi or any remote area, lakhs of students come to Delhi to prepare for the most prestigious government job in the country.
Among them were Navin Dalvin, Shreya Yadav and Tanya Soni. All three were studying at Rouse IAS Coaching Centre in Old Rajendra Nagar, Delhi. 28-year-old Navin Dalvin, a resident of Ernakulam, Kerala, was doing PhD from JNU. He was preparing for UPSC by staying in Patel Nagar for the last eight months. During the rescue, Navin’s body was taken out last by divers. As soon as the news was received, people started gathering at Navin’s house.
Shreya Yadav was 25 years old. She had joined coaching last month. Shreya’s family, who lives in Ambedkar Nagar in UP, says that they had sent their daughter to Delhi with great hopes. Her father is a farmer. His dream was that his daughter would become a big officer. Her uncle had seen the news of the accident on TV. As soon as he told the family about the accident, there was chaos in the entire family. People rushed to Delhi.
The third victim of this accident, Tanya Soni, had come to Delhi from Telangana. 25-year-old Tanya’s dreams were also drowned in Delhi’s deadly negligence. Just four days ago, in Delhi’s Patel Nagar, a student preparing for UPSC, Nilesh Rai, died due to electric shock. He had completed B.Tech and had also passed the UPSC prelims exam. These accidents not only destroyed the happiness of the affected families but also filled the hearts of lakhs of families whose children live in different areas of Delhi for coaching. There are many questions, which have to be answered by the police-administration and the government.