In Delhi, a renowned coaching center's basement became flooded, leading to the tragic deaths of three students. The incident took place at Rao IAS Coaching Center in Old Rajendra Nagar. Two individuals have been taken into custody for questioning regarding this matter. Meanwhile, the Delhi government has ordered a magistrate investigation into the incident.
The Delhi Fire Department received an alert at 7 PM on Saturday evening about water flooding the basement of the coaching center. According to the call, the basement was quickly filling with water, trapping several students. Given the severity of the situation, a team from the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) initiated the rescue operation. The scenario was so dire that divers had to be deployed.
According to the police, the three deceased have been identified as 25-year-old Tania Soni, daughter of Vijay Kumar, 25-year-old Shreya Yadav, daughter of Rajendra Yadav, and 28-year-old Naveen Dalvin. Tania and Shreya were from Uttar Pradesh, while Naveen was from Kerala, pursuing a Ph.D. at JNU.
How did the water fill the basement?
The basement of the coaching center houses a library, which had a considerable number of students present at the time. According to Fire Department Director Atul Garg, 30 to 35 students were there, out of which three were trapped. Following the rescue operation, the bodies of three students were recovered. Among the deceased were two female students and one male student.
Naveen Dalvin, one of the students who lost his life, was from Kerala but had been living in Delhi for the past six to eight months. Naveen resided in Patel Nagar and had gone to the library to study. He was pursuing his Ph.D. at JNU.
DCP (Central Delhi) M. Harshvardhan informed a news agency that heavy rain had occurred in Delhi on Saturday evening, leading to water clogging on the streets. The investigation is underway to determine how the basement filled with water so rapidly.
Meanwhile, BJP MP Bansuri Swaraj has claimed that the basement was flooded due to the failure to clean the drains. She pointed out that for the past week, local residents had repeatedly asked their legislator Durgesh Pathak to clean the drains, but their requests were ignored. Consequently, water from these drains ended up flooding the basement.
BJP leader R.P. Singh criticized that the desilting work wasn't done on time. He stated that if desilting had occurred on schedule, this tragedy could have been avoided. He demanded answers from the Delhi government and the legislator about the delays in desilting work and the allocation of funds for it.
Basement filled with water in 2-3 minutes
Preliminary investigations revealed that the basement library had numerous students present when the water started pouring in abruptly. Ropes were thrown to rescue the trapped students.
A student recounted that when the library closed at 7 PM and they stepped out, water rushed in at high pressure from the front. By the time they vacated the library, water had already risen to knee-level.
He mentioned that the water current was so strong that they struggled to climb the stairs. Within 2-3 minutes, the entire basement was submerged in 10-12 feet of water. Ropes were thrown to assist in escape, but the water was so dirty that visibility was zero.
A police officer explained that the basement was so flooded that even the library furniture started floating, making the rescue operation extremely challenging.
Water extracted using 4 motor pumps
Due to heavy rainfall, the roads were already waterlogged. To remove water from the basement, motor pumps were used. Reportedly, water was pumped out using four motor pumps.
Divers were brought in to assist with the rescue operation. BJP MP Bansuri Swaraj remarked that the involvement of divers underscores the severity of the situation.
Late at night, after the bodies of the three students were recovered, DCP M. Harshvardhan stated that seven feet of water was still present in the basement and was being pumped out.
What's next?
According to DCP Harshvardhan, the bodies of the three students have been sent for post-mortem. The police have registered a case and detained two individuals. Moreover, Delhi’s Education Minister has ordered a magistrate investigation into the entire incident, demanding a report within 24 hours.
