The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) on Tuesday issued notices to the Delhi government, city police chief and municipal commissioner in connection with the deaths of three civil services aspirants in the flooded basement of a coaching centre in Rajinder Nagar.
Three IAS aspirants -- Shreya Yadav from Uttar Pradesh, Tanya Soni from Telangana, and Nevin Dalwin from Kerala -- died after the basement of a building housing Rau's IAS Study Circle coaching institute was flooded following rain on the evening of July 27. According to officials, Rau's IAS Study Circle was illegally using the basement of the building as a library. Locals have alleged that the drainage system in the area was heavily clogged with silt.
The NHRC sought a detailed report from them in two weeks, a statement said.
The Delhi chief secretary was also asked to get a thorough survey done to ascertain the exact number of such institutes and coaching centres running in violation of the prescribed norms across Delhi, according to news agency PTI.
Every detail of such institutes, including complaints pending against them and action taken by the department concerned, is to be mentioned in the report, the statement issued by the NHRC said.
The NHRC said it has "taken suo motu cognisance of media reports that three students drowned in the flooded basement library of a prominent civil services coaching centre in Delhi on July 27".
The news reports indicated that many complaints regarding waterlogging were made to the authorities, but "no action was taken", NHRC said expressing serious concern over the incident. The commission observed that the contents of the news report indicate negligence on the part of the authorities concerned.
The commission also took cognisance of the death of another civil services aspirant in Delhi's Patel Nagar area after getting electrocuted on touching an iron gat.
It has been noted that a few days back, reportedly in another incident of authorities' negligence, another civil services aspirant died due to electrocution while crossing a waterlogged street. The commission has taken suo motu cognisance of it, the statement said.
Popular Coaching Centre Drishti IAS Sealed
Hundreds of students staged a protest outside the popular Drishti IAS coaching centre in North West Delhi's Mukherjee Nagar after the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) sealed the basement of the institute in a crackdown on illegally run the establishment following the July 27 tragedy that took place at Rau's IAS Study Circle.
Drishti IAS, run by educator and popular YouTuber Vikas Divyakirti, was among the seven coaching institutes, including six in Central Delhi's Old Rajinder Nagar, which were sealed by the MCD as part of the crackdown on illegally run establishments.
So far, the basements of 20 coaching centres that were illegally being used either as libraries or for providing classes in both Rajindra Nagar and Mukherjee Nagar have been sealed since the incident took place on July 27.
Apart from Drishti IAS, the names of prominent coaching centres which came under the MCD scanner on Monday include - Vaji Ram and Ravi IAS hub, and SriRam IAS Institute in Rajinder Nagar and Drishti (The Vision) in Mukherjee Nagar, according to an official statement.
