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"Students were trying to get out but their hands slipped off the railings. The last boy who came out last told that two girls were still left behind. They tried to hold on to his legs but eventually lost grip," said Anil (name changed), a civil services aspirant studying at Rau's IAS Study Circle, the coaching centre where three students lost their lives by drowning in the building's basement on 27 July after it got flooded.
Anil himself escaped death by a few minutes.
"I was sitting near the door (of the basement). It felt as if all the water of Delhi had come here. The glass gate of the basement broke due to the force and intensity of the water," Anil recalled.
Three students — Shreya Yadav, Nevin Dalvin, and Taniya Soni — lost their lives after water from flooded streets of Old Rajender Nagar gushed into the library in the basement of the coaching centre's building on Saturday evening.
A legacy coaching centre for UPSC aspirants, Rau's IAS Study Circle and its various centres, along with scores of other coaching institutes, are now under scrutiny.
But while students and aspirants protesting in the national capital questioned why the action came too late, they also highlighted the grim reality of the coaching centre 'business': "For the amount of fees we pay, our lives are too cheap for them."
'We Thought It Would Flood a Little Like Usual...'
On Saturday, many localities in the national capital were flooded after a day of heavy rains, including Old Rajendra Nagar, home to thousands of civil service aspirants and a hub of coaching centres.
Speaking to The Quint, Anil recalled the last few minutes of the tragedy at the Rau's IAS building.
"The library used to shut at 7:00 pm every day. That evening, too, we had started packing our bags. The coordinator of the centre came rushing and said that all the students must evacuate immediately because water had started entering the basement. We thought that some water will enter like it does usually up to the feet. But the coordinator said that we must leave immediately if we want to save our lives," Anil recalled.
"The water level reached the roof of the basement within a few minutes. The force of the water was so strong that the metal gate of the centre that opens on the road could not take it and it broke. The water entered the basement with such force that it also broke the glass door to the library," Anil said, adding that the water stinked of sewer and garbage.
Some students left their belongings behind and rushed out but their hands slipped off of the wet railings. While the coordinator pulled some students out, some 7-8 students remaind stuck inside.
"They called the NDRF but they arrived over an hour later. In them meantime, the centre's faculty team threw ropes to help some more students," Anil said.
While claims emerged that students weer stuck in the basement as the door was locked biometrically, students studying at Rau's institute denied them.
Complaints Against Coaching Center With MCD Remained 'Under Process'
In the past one month, at least three online complaints were filed by Kishor Singh Kushwah, a resident of Karol Bagh, with the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD). His first complaint was filed exactly a month before the tragedy on 26 June.
In his complaints, Kishor alleged that Rau’s IAS coaching institute was running classes in the basement without official permissions and NOC. He expressed fear that such use of the basment could endanger the lives of students and staff. He also mentioned other big coaching institutions in the locality which are running their classes and libraries in the basements.
Kishor then sent two reminders to the for action sent two reminders to the officials with respect to his original complaint - one on o the civic body on July 15 and July 22.
“My motto was to draw attention towards the safety and security of the aspirants. On 26 June, I made a formal complaint through a public grievance portal. Many coaching institutes running in Rajendra Nagar area illegally operate in the basements. Most of them do not have safety clearances,” Kishor told IANS.
But he status of his complaint and subsequent reminders kept showing 'under process', Kishor said.
"If the administration had taken cognisance of my complaint, this incident wouldn’t have happened," he said.
'Basements Are Deathtraps': Outraged Students, Locals Demand Answers
The tragedy came just days after another UPSC aspirant, Nilesh, was electrocuted in a waterlogged area near his PG accommodation on 22 July. Nilesh was returning to his hostel after attending his study session at a nearby library.
Saturday's tragedy sparked a massive uproar among students questioned who questioned the MCD and the administration's apathy over poor infrastructure and lack of civic management in the area.
Many students complained of overcrowding in coaching in institutes, centres flouting basement and fire safety norms, and lack of basic amenities depite exorbitant fees being charged.
“A coaching centre charges Rs 2 lakh fees but they don't provide safety even worth Rs 2. The study rooms (commonly referred to as libraries in this area) have narrow entry and exits. In case a disaster takes place, people will die suffocating inside the building. Basements in these areas are deathtraps,” Imam, a student residing in nearby Patel Nagar told The Quint.
As Delhi minister Saurabh Bharadwaj and Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena resorted to blame game after the tragedy, residents of the locality said that the administration has constantly ignored their complaints against mainatenance of sewers and issues of waterlogging every monsoon.
“We are taxpayers. This locality generates huge revenue from rent and various activities and contributes to the overall GDP, still we lack basic amenities," Kuldeep Sharma, a local, told The Quint.
'Do We Send Children Away to Die?' Families of Victims Demand Justice
Victim Shreya Yadav, who hailed from Ambedkar Nagar in Uttar Pradesh, had moved to Delhi with an aspirtation of becoming a civil servant just a few months ago in April.
A B.Sc Agriculture graduate and initially worked at a dairy firm.
"How will one ever think of moving their children away for education anymore? There was no librarian, no emergency exits, nothing. The institute is responsible for this but they did not even bother too call us to inform. How does the administration allow activities to continue in the basements?" Shreya's brother Abhishek said while speaking to the media.
Taniya Soni's father, meanwhile, said that his daughter always dreamt big. She had moved from Telangana to Delhi last year to pursue civil services.
"I don't have words to express what we are going through. She was my first-born. We cannot understand how this could happen. We have lost everything," her father told The Indian Express.
Meanwhile, LG Saxena, termed the incident as criminal neglect and asked the Divisional Commissioner to submit a report by 30 July.
The Delhi Police has filed an FIR under various sections, including culpable homicide and arrested Abhishek Gupta, the CEO of the coaching centre, and Deshpal Singh, one of the coordinators.
In the FIR accessed by The Quint, the police said that Gupta did not offer any explanation as to why the library was being run in the basement.
The two have been booked under several sections of the Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita (BNS) including 105 (cuplable homicide not amounting to murder), 106-1 (death by negligence), 115-2 (voluntarily causing hurt), and 290 (negligence in repair and maintenance of buildings).
But as Delhi ministers, the LG, and the police take action and seek reports, Sharma questioned where the buck stops.
"The Chief Minister is in jail forcing the entire administration to operate on auto-pilot. The Prime Minister is preoccupied with delivering Mann Ki Baat, the Mayor is making promises of a joyous monsoon, the LG is engaged in conflicts with the elected government, and the education mafias are evading taxes and endangering lives with poor infrastructure. This is the story of our clean and green city that is getting worse year after year during monsoons," Sharma lamented.
(With inputs from IANS and The Indian Express.)
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