A day after three civil service aspirants lost their lives due to basement flooding at a coaching centre following heavy rain in Delhi, the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) has taken action against the centre for neglecting norms. The MCD has constituted a high-level panel to investigate the incident in central Delhi’s Old Rajinder Nagar area.
An MCD official stated that numerous coaching centres operating illegally from basements have been identified, and actions against them have commenced.
Last year, the MCD conducted a survey of coaching centres following a massive fire at an institute in Mukherjee Nagar, which forced several individuals to jump off the building to escape the fire.
During the survey, the MCD found that Rau’s coaching centre violated building regulations from the basement up to the third floor. Consequently, in August 2023, the MCD issued a show-cause notice to the coaching centre’s owner, Abhishek Gupta. Despite this, the misuse continued.
The matter was escalated to the Deputy Commissioner of Karol Bagh Zone, and on July 9 of this year, Abhishek Gupta obtained the crucial fire no-objection certificate (NOC). However, the misuse of the basement and the three floors above persisted. This led to the tragic flooding of the basement and the subsequent death of three UPSC aspirants.
The MCD uncovered several violations during its investigation, revealing that the basement had been repurposed as a library.
Owner, Coordinator Sent to Judicial Custody
On Sunday, a Delhi court sent the owner and coordinator of Rau’s IAS Study Circle to 14-day judicial custody. The coaching centre owner, Abhishek Gupta, and coordinator, Deshpal Singh, were produced before a magisterial court, which remanded them in custody for 14 days.
Police have registered a First Information Report (FIR) under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita Sections 105 (culpable homicide), 106(1) (death due to a rash or negligent act not amounting to culpable homicide), 115(2) (punishment for voluntarily causing hurt), and 290 (negligent conduct concerning building maintenance).
