The Ministry of Home Affairs on Monday constituted a committee to investigate the deaths of three Union Public Service Commission aspirants at a private coaching centre in New Delhi’s Old Rajinder Nagar on Saturday.
The three students, enrolled at Rau’s IAS Study Circle, drowned when the coaching centre’s basement flooded after a nearby drainage pipeline burst.
The Delhi Police has arrested seven persons in connection with the incident, including the owner of Rau’s IAS Study Circle and the coordinator of the coaching centre.
The investigating committee will include the additional secretary of the urban affairs ministry, the principal secretary (home) of the Delhi government, the special commissioner of police of the Delhi Police and the fire advisor, the home ministry said in a post on X.
The joint secretary of the home ministry will be the panel’s convener.
Meanwhile, a public interest litigation in the Delhi High Court has sought an investigation into the incident by a high-level committee, reported Live Law. The court is expected to hear the matter on Wednesday.
The plea also asks that the committee prepare a report on coaching institutes operating illegally in the capital.
At least two bulldozers were deployed in the vicinity of the coaching centre on Monday to raze illegal structures, reported The Indian Express. They dug up the footpaths of the Bada Bazar Road that were found to be covering the drains outside coaching institutes, according to the newspaper.
Delhi Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena on Monday announced a compensation of Rs 10 lakh each for the families of the three deceased students, PTI reported.
Saxena said in a statement that action would be taken within 24 hours against officials in the Delhi Fire Services, the Delhi Police and the Municipal Corporation of Delhi who were found to be responsible for the incident.
The statement noted that a joint task force comprising members of the municipal corporation and the Delhi Fire Services would survey buildings in the Rajinder Nagar area to identify violations of building bylaws.
The team will seal basements and other illegal structures that contravene building bylaws as prescribed by the Delhi Development Authority’s Master Plan For 2021 and fire safety norms, it added, according to PTI.
Municipal Corporation of Delhi Commissioner Ashwani Kumar on Monday confirmed that a junior engineer had been terminated from their job and an assistant engineer suspended in connection with the incident, PTI reported.
The Delhi Police said that it has written to the Municipal Corporation of Delhi for an update on the status of de-silting of drains near the coaching centre, the Hindustan Times reported, quoting unidentified officials.
On Sunday, Delhi Mayor Shelly Oberoi said that she had written to the Municipal Corporation of Delhi to ensure that strict action is taken against the coaching centre for violating Delhi’s building bylaws.
“All such coaching centres across Delhi which are under the jurisdiction of MCD [Municipal Corporation of Delhi] and running commercial activities in basements which are in violation of building bylaws and are not as per norms, strict action should be taken against them immediately,” said the mayor’s notice.
“Immediate enquiry to conducted to identify if any officers of MCD are responsible for this tragedy.”
Later in the day, the civic body sealed at least 13 “illegal” coaching centres in Rajinder Nagar, NDTV reported.
“These coaching centres were found to be operating in basements in violation of rules and they were sealed on the spot and notices were pasted,” said Oberoi.
Rau’s IAS Study Circle said in a statement on Sunday that it was “fully committed to supporting the ongoing investigations into this tragic incident”.
The incident has sparked protests by students enrolled at similar coaching centres in the area.