The tragic deaths of three UPSC aspirants in the flooded basement of a coaching center in Delhi’s Rajinder Nagar have brought attention to civic negligence and regulatory violations. The victims, Tania Soni, Shreya Yadav, and Navin Delvin, were trapped in the basement of Rau’s IAS Study Circle after heavy rains inundated the area on Saturday.
The coaching center had been using the basement as a library, despite civic authorities stipulating it was only approved for storage or parking. The Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) had issued a No-Objection Certificate (NOC) in August 2021, specifically stating the basement was for parking and household storage use. An NOC from the fire department, granted earlier this month, indicated the building met fire safety requirements but reiterated the basement’s use must comply with building bye-laws.
The bye-laws mandate that surface drainage should not enter basements and that sufficient exit and access points are required if the basement is used for commercial purposes. However, the Rajinder Nagar coaching center had only one entry/exit.
On the day of the incident, several students were in the library when the basement flooded. Rescue teams from the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and local police found the bodies of the three victims after hours of effort.
Delhi Mayor Shelly Oberoi has ordered a probe to determine if any MCD officials were negligent and emphasized that all coaching centers violating the law would face action. The police have registered a case with charges including culpable homicide not amounting to murder and death due to negligence. Two individuals have been taken into custody in connection with the incident.
The tragedy has led to student protests blaming civic negligence and sparked a political blame game. The BJP has targeted the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), accusing local MLA Durgesh Pathak of neglecting drainage issues despite resident complaints. Pathak has countered, criticizing the BJP’s focus on politics rather than addressing the problem and questioning why the BJP’s councilor did not address the drainage issue during his term.
The incident underscores the critical need for strict adherence to safety regulations and proper oversight to prevent such tragedies in the future.
