Keralese among three killed in flood at IAS training centre in Delhi; students protest

New Delhi: IAS aspirants are protesting against the death of three students who drowned in the flooded library of Rau’s IAS Study Circle in central Delhi on Saturday night. They termed the accident a disaster and said they feared that more students were trapped in the library in the basement of the building.
Police confirmed that the three, including a man and two women, are from Kerala, Telangana and Uttar Pradesh. Manorama News reported that Ernakulam native Nevin Dalvin, son of Lancelet TS, was the Malayali who died in the accident. Nevin, who also works as a research fellow at JNU, reportedly arrived at the library around 10 am on Saturday morning. The other two are: Shreya Yadav, a native of Ambedkar Nagar district in Uttar Pradesh, and Tanya Soni from Telangana.

Angry students have been protesting outside the training centre since Saturday evening, alleging that the civic administration’s negligence in cleaning the blocked drains led to the accident that killed their friends. The IAS aspirants demanded strict police action against those responsible for the criminal negligence. A large force has been stationed outside the centre to keep the protesters under control.

“There was a wall in front of the training centre. It normally prevented water from entering the building. But after it collapsed, water entered the building and flooded the basement. At that time, there were over 40 students in the building. Most of them managed to escape. But the three students got stuck in the library,” a Malayali student described the incident.

AAP Rajya Sabha MP Swati Maliwal came to the centre on Sunday morning to pacify the protesters. Although a group of students blocked Maliwal, accusing her of playing politics with the tragedy, she pacified them and expressed solidarity with their protest. She termed the deaths as murders and condemned the government’s negligence in finding a solution to the flooding in the region.

“This is not a natural disaster. This is murder. An FIR must be lodged and strict action must be taken against those involved. The families of the students who lost their lives should be given a compensation of Rs 10 crore. Delhi government ministers are holding press conferences in air-conditioned rooms. Delhi mayor had earlier asked people to enjoy the monsoon. Is this enjoyment? There is anger among the students. They have been sitting here since last night but no one has come to meet them so far,” MP Swati Maliwal said.

The students alleged that the deaths were due to utter negligence of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD). They alleged that the coaching centre was running the library in the basement illegally and without any safety measures. A UPSC aspirant told the media that many centres in Delhi run libraries in the basement of their buildings.

The library in the basement had a capacity of 150 people. Many students were there at the time of the accident. Some news agencies reported that an overflowing drain near the training center caused the accident. Due to the narrow exit corridor, students were trapped inside, said one student.

“Normally, the wall outside the coaching centre prevents water from entering. When it collapsed, the water rushed in. Yesterday, about 40 students were in the library. Most of them ran away. But these three got stuck there,” a Malaysian IAS aspirant told Manorama Online, referring to the deceased students.

Case registered with police, owner of a tutoring center arrested
DCP Central M Harshavardhan told the media that a case has been filed against the training institute, building management and those responsible for maintaining drainage in the area.

“So far, we have arrested the owner and coordinator of this training centre… further investigation is on. The case has been registered under sections 105, 106 (1), 115 (2), 290 and 35 of the BNS. Besides the Delhi Police and Fire Service, the NDRF was also involved in the rescue work. At the end of the search… three bodies were recovered from the basement. All of them have been identified and the family members have been informed,” he told the media.

“The NDRF search operation has been completed and three bodies have been recovered. The NDRF rescue operation took about seven hours.”
The police are currently reviewing CCTV footage to understand the sequence of events, the DCP said.

Following the accident, Delhi Mayor Dr. Shelly Oberoi issued an order asking the MCD Commissioner to take strict action against illegally running tutoring centres.

“Immediate strict action shall be taken against all such training centres across Delhi under the jurisdiction of MCD carrying out commercial activities in basements violating building rules and not conforming to norms,” ​​the order said.

She said that an investigation must be launched immediately to ascertain whether MCD officials are responsible for this tragedy and if any official is found guilty, the strictest action will be taken against him.