Students Flee as Water Floods Delhi Basement in Viral Video

New Delhi:

An alarming sight transpired at a tutoring center in Delhi on Saturday when water surged into its basement – being utilized as a library in violation of regulations. Numerous students were trapped and three perished in the inundated basement.

A video, seemingly filmed hours before the bodies of the three students were retrieved, depicts numerous students rushing out of the flooded basement of Rau’s IAS Study Circle in west Delhi Rajendra Nagar.

Water was flowing down the steps as the students walked through water, it revealed.

A man can be heard urging the students to exit the basement swiftly. “Kids, come up quickly. Quick, quick… Is anyone left behind? Is anyone down there,” he inquired.

Three students – Tania Soni (25), Shreya Yadav (25) and Navin Delvin (28) – were indeed left behind and their bodies were retrieved after a seven-hour long rescue operation.

Authorities stated they received a call about waterlogging from the Rau’s IAS Study Centre around 7 pm on Saturday.

While the police are investigating the cause behind the flooding, locals attribute the poor drainage system in the vicinity. They mention it was heavily congested with silt and overflowed resulting in a flood-like situation after rains.

Another video exhibited the road in front of the tutoring institute severely inundated with waist-deep water levels.

The Delhi Police has lodged a First Information Report (FIR) and established multiple teams to investigate the incident. The investigations so far have highlighted various oversights on the part of its owner and civic authorities.

Delhi Fire Services chief Atul Garg mentioned that there was no option to de-water the basement.

The three-story tutoring center for the preparation of civil services had its building plan sanctioned by the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) department in 2021 by falsely indicating that it was being used as a store room, as per the building plan and the No Objection Certificate (NOC) of the fire department.

“The building has fire NOC, but in the NOC they had shown the basement as a store room. The management of the institute was using the same room as a classroom or library which is a violation of the NOC,” Mr Garg stated.

Several students staged protests to demand justice for the civil service aspirants who lost their lives and demanded action against those responsible for the deaths and compensation for their families.

Meanwhile, the institute stated they “are deeply saddened by the loss of these promising young individuals who were preparing to serve our nation with dedication and commitment”.

“RAU’s IAS Study Circle is fully committed to supporting the ongoing investigations into this tragic incident. We are cooperating fully with the relevant authorities and agencies to ensure that all necessary information is provided and that the investigation proceeds with the utmost diligence,” read the statement.

The owner and the coordinator of the Rau’s IAS Study Circle have been apprehended and charged under culpable homicide.