MCD seals basements of 13 civil services institutes in Delhi after Old Rajendra Nagar mishap

New Delhi: Taking a major step after three UPSC aspirants died due to flooding of the basement at Rau’s IAS coaching institute in Delhi’s Old Rajendra Nagar, the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) has sealed the basements of 13 Civil Services Institutes.

The corporation’s crackdown against properties violating building bylaws has come in response to the harrowing incident that occurred on Saturday evening, triggering massive protests by students in the Old Rajendra Nagar area.

#WATCH | Old Rajinder Nagar incident | Delhi: Students sit and protest in Old Rajinder Nagar against the death of 3 students after the basement of their coaching institute here was flooded with rainwater yesterday. pic.twitter.com/b1VTlROiqZ

— ANI (@ANI) July 28, 2024

Tariq Thomas, Additional Commissioner MCD, said, “We have started the action since evening. Three basements (coaching centres running in the basement) have been closed and we will take further action in the coming days. The government has ordered an inquiry.”

Aishe Ghosh, former JNU president told ANI, “We reached Old Rajendra Nagar soon after receiving the info of the incident. One of the students who has died is a PhD holder from JNU. This is a very shocking incident. Students come from far areas to study here and there is no facility available for them. This is a sad thing.”

The students continued their protest in the early hours of Monday also, demanding justice and appropriate action from the government.
Students from different coaching centres came up with their five main demands.

The protesting students demanded a strict action against each and every government authorities who are responsible for this disaster and take steps to stop further water logging and electric wires in the area.

They also demanded severe punishment to coaching centres and landowners who are running such kinds of libraries and coaching in basements, a rent regulation bill or some code of rent regulation to control irrational rent and brokerage, an insurance cover in every coaching and in such libraries against any mishap and a grievance redressal mechanism for students from coaching sites for any irregularities.

According to an official release from MCD, it said that in Rau’s IAS coaching institute case, the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) is thoroughly investigating the matter to determine the cause of the flooding in the basement.

The basement was allowed for parking and storage but not as a library or reading hall and the coaching center where the incident took place was running in disregard to fire clearance conditions, the release from MCD said.

In light of this tragic incident, a plea has been filed in the Delhi High Court.
The plea seeks a directive for the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) to implement immediate measures to prevent similar incidents in the future. The court’s intervention aims to address and mitigate issues related to waterlogging and improve safety conditions.