Delhi: RAU’S IAS’s boundary in water, scooty-bullet all were submerged, as soon as the entry gate opened… Video before the accident

Three students preparing for UPSC exam in India’s capital Delhi died on Saturday (27 July) after water filled in the basement of their coaching institute. The incident took place at RAU’s IAS Coaching Center located in Old Rajendra Nagar. Two girl students and a boy student were trapped inside the basement for more than four hours, by the time they were rescued, all three had died. There is anger among the students after this incident. They protested by raising slogans against Delhi Municipal Corporation, local MLA and councilor.

Delhi Police said that the owner and coordinator of RAU’s IAS Study Circle have been arrested. Speaking to news agency ANI, a student said, ‘Both MCD and the coaching institute are guilty, they should be held jointly liable.’ Another student told ANI that around 20-25 students were trapped in the basement of the coaching center. Most came out on their own and some students remained trapped inside. Students studying in RAU’s IAS said that after the incident, no representative of the Delhi government came to meet them, nor did anyone take care of them.

A video just before the accident is viral on social media, in which the dilapidated condition of Old Rajendra Nagar can be seen after normal rain. This video has been shot by someone on his phone right in front of RAU’s IAS Study Circle, in which water can be seen everywhere. The coaching center is located right next to the road. It can be seen in the video that there is waist-deep water on the road. There is so much water that bikes and scooters are almost drowning. In the viral video, the entry gate of RAU’s IAS Coaching Center is seen closed.

The water is reaching up to half of the iron gate. It is being told that some staff of the coaching center had to go home, so the entry gate was opened. As soon as the gate opened, the water accumulated on the road started filling the basement of the coaching center with a strong current. There was so much water that it took only a few minutes to fill the 12 feet deep basement and the students present inside it got trapped. Actually, RAU’s IAS Study Circle had built its library in the basement of the building. That is why so many students were present in the basement.

After the accident, Delhi Mayor Dr. Shelly Oberoi directed the MCD Commissioner that strict action should be taken immediately against all such coaching centers across Delhi which are under the jurisdiction of MCD and are running commercial activities in basements, which are violating building rules and are not in accordance with the norms. She said that an immediate investigation has been started to find out whether any MCD official is responsible for this accident. If any official is found guilty, strict action will be taken against him.