Basement deaths: Waterlogging chronic issue in Rajinder Nagar, UPSC aspirants slam MCD

New Delhi: "We must take concrete steps now to prevent a similar incident from happening again," said Rahul Sharma, a civil service aspirant, staging a sit-in at Old Rajinder Nagar to demand justice for the three students who drowned in the basement of a coaching centre in the west Delhi locality.

Sharma, hailing from Uttar Pradesh, is among the hundreds of aspirants protesting near Rau’s IAS Study Circle where horror unfolded on Saturday night when students got trapped in the basement illegally used as a library as floodwaters rose outside.

On Monday evening, the students held a candle light vigil near the institute where the incident happened. Some of them sat with their phone's flashlight on.

While Lok Sabha members across party lines demanded an inquiry into the tragic incident that claimed the lives of Shreya Yadav from Uttar Pradesh, Tanya Soni from Telangana, and Nevin Dalwin from Kerala, the protesters blamed the Municipal Corporation of Delhi for negligence.

"More students will die if we neglect this incident. We won't get justice for our fellow students. If we don't fight for our right now, how will we serve the nation in the future? This is sheer negligence on the part of the authorities," Sharma said.

Another protesting student, who wished to remain anonymous, said, "The MCD is the biggest culprit. Whenever it rains, the streets are waterlogged and you risk falling into an open manhole or getting an electric shock and dying. Anything can happen." On July 22, a 26-year-old civil service aspirant allegedly died by electrocution following heavy rain in the Patel Nagar area near Old Rajinder Nagar.

Another aspirant Kanishka claimed that she wrote to the MCD last week about the waterlogging issue near the institute but no action was taken.

"I came here last week, saw the waterlogging and complained to the MCD on Wednesday. Three days later, this incident took place. This is sheer negligence," Kanishka said.

In the wake of the incident, civic body officials launched an anti-encroachment drive in Old Rajinder Nagar. On Sunday, it sealed 13 illegal coaching centres in the area, a hub of coaching institutes.

The students, however, said around 95 per cent of the libraries in the area, most of which are in basements, have been shut down by their owners to avoid trouble.

This has put their future at stake as without the libraries, preparing for the approaching exams is an uphill task.

"Around 400 to 600 students study in these basement libraries daily. Some of the coaching centres conduct their classes in basements," Satyam Singh, an aspirant from Uttar Pradesh said.

Several PG accommodations too have libraries in their basements as it is a necessity for the students who have different schedules of studying, he added.

"All basement libraries must be shut down permanently as these are not safe. Most of them have just one entry and exit point and that too is narrow," another student said, adding libraries were essential but they should not be in basements.

Some of the students questioned the arrest of Abhishek Gupta, CEO and owner of Rau's IAS Study Circle, along with coordinator Deshpal Singh, and the owner of the basement.

"In this area, 95 per cent of the libraries are in basements. How many people are they (police) going to arrest? The problem is the drainage system and its maintenance.

"Roads here get waterlogged every time it rains. The administration and the MCD should address this issue," Suraj, an aspirant from Bihar living in Rajinder Nagar for the last four years, said.

The students said the area around the coaching centre where the tragedy occurred gets waterlogged whenever there is a downpour and the problem has persisted for the last several years.

Sahil, who arrived in Rajinder Nagar several years ago as an aspirant and now teaches at one of the coaching centres, said, "Waterlogging has always been an issue in this area." As the MCD began demolishing encroachments over stormwater drains in the area on Monday, the students termed the action too little, too late.

"Machines have been brought to remove encroachments so that no waterlogging happens as the media is here. This should have been done earlier," a student said.

In the wake of the incident, Rajya Sabha chairperson Jagdeep Dhankhar dubbed the culture of coaching centres as a "gas chamber" and Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said responsibility must be fixed so that such incidents do not recur.