The rescue operation that was going on after water suddenly filled in the basement of Rao IAS Study Centre in Old Rajendra Nagar, Delhi has ended. Two girl students and one boy student died in this incident. On one hand, the Delhi government has ordered a magisterial inquiry to investigate this incident, while on the other hand, the students preparing for civil services in coaching are protesting and demanding action against those responsible for this incident.
The bodies of the three students who lost their lives in this incident have been brought to Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital for postmortem. The student who died in this accident was a resident of Kerala. He has been identified as Navin Dalvin, who was preparing for the exam for the last eight months. He was doing PhD from Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi. Dalvin lived in Patel Nagar and came to study in the library at around 10 am. His friends are trying to talk to the family members of the deceased. Apart from this, the students who died have been identified as Tanya Soni (25) daughter of Vijay Kumar, Shreya Yadav (25) daughter of Rajendra Yadav. Shreya had taken admission in the coaching center in June/July itself. She was a resident of Barsawan Hashimpur in Ambedkar Nagar district of UP.
Rescue operation over, 3 bodies recovered: Police
Police said that the rescue operation of this unfortunate incident that took place in a coaching centre in Old Rajendra Nagar area is over. Three bodies have been recovered in this accident. Their families have been informed. Apart from this, a case has been registered regarding this incident and further investigation is going on.
According to the Delhi Fire Department, information was received about water filling in the basement of the coaching centre at 7 pm on Saturday evening. The department was called that the basement of the coaching centre was flooded and many students were trapped. Seeing the seriousness of the matter, the NDRF team started the rescue operation. The situation was such that divers had to be sent into the water.
30-35 students were studying in the basement
There is a library in the basement of the coaching centre. Because of this, a good number of students were studying here. According to fire department director Atul Garg, 30 students were present at the time of the incident, out of which 3 were trapped. After the rescue operation, the bodies of three students were recovered. Among the dead are two girl students and one boy student.
The basement was filled with water in 2-3 minutes
Initial investigation has revealed that there was a library in the basement, where many students were present. The basement suddenly started filling with water. The trapped students were rescued by throwing ropes. A student said that as soon as we came out after the library closed at 7 pm, water was coming from the front with very high pressure. By the time we vacated the library, the water had filled up to our knees. He said that the flow was so fast that we were not able to climb the stairs. Within 2-3 minutes, the entire basement was filled with 10-12 feet of water. Ropes were thrown to get out of there, but the water was so dirty that nothing was visible.
Delhi: 12 feet of water in the basement, divers had to be called, ‘flood of negligence’ in Rajendra Nagar’s IAS coaching center took the lives of 3 UPSC students
MP Bansuri Swaraj claims that the drain was not cleaned
Meanwhile, BJP MP from New Delhi Bansuri Swaraj claims that the basement got flooded due to the drain not being cleaned. Bansuri Swaraj claimed that for the past week, the people here had been repeatedly asking MLA Durgesh Pathak to get the drain cleaned, but their request was ignored. She said that the water from here filled the basement.
Water was drawn out using 4 motor pumps
A police officer said that the basement was filled with so much water that the library furniture started floating. Due to this, there was a lot of difficulty in the rescue operation. Due to heavy rains, the road was already filled with water. In such a situation, after the basement was filled with water, a motor pump was used to remove it. It is being told that water was removed through four motor pumps.
What did the protesting student say?
A student protesting said, “80% of the libraries here are in the basement. It is seen that there is flooding after a little rain. Till date, MCD is not working on this. It is the responsibility of MCD if water is overflowing. If Delhi is flooded in 10-15 minutes, it is the most posh area. We are studying here by paying 2.5-3 lakh rupees. The responsibility of this lies with MCD. If the same MCD has to take money from the hawker, then it is very responsible. It took 12-15 hours to rescue people from a library. 99 percent people are no more.”
What did Delhi’s Education Minister say?
Delhi government’s education minister Atishi tweeted that there is news of water filling in the basement of a coaching institute in Rajendra Nagar. Delhi Fire Department and NDRF are on the spot. Delhi Mayor and local MLA are also there. I am taking updates of the incident every minute. Orders have been given for a magisterial inquiry into how this incident happened. Whoever is responsible for this incident will not be spared.
Police told- what will happen next?
DCP (Central Delhi) M Harsh Vardhan told news agency ANI that there was heavy rain in Delhi on Saturday evening, due to which the road was flooded. Now the matter is being investigated as to how the basement got filled with water so fast. He said that the bodies of the deceased students have been sent to Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital for post-mortem.