Basement Meant For Storage Used As Library: Delhi Coaching Centre, Where 3 Students Drowned, Flouted Safety Norms

The Delhi coaching centre had the permission to use the basement, where three civil services aspirants died after flooding owing to heavy rain on Saturday, only for storage purposes and not as library, according to the Delhi Fire Services’ (DFS) No-Objection Certificate (NOC) accessed by CNN-News18.

Shreya Yadav of Ambedkar Nagar in Uttar Pradesh, Tanya Soni from Telangana and Navin Dalwin from Ernakulam in Kerala died in the incident in central Delhi’s Old Rajinder Nagar area. The post-mortem will be carried out on Sunday.

DFS sources told News18: “Violating the NOC, the owners of Rau’s IAS Coaching Academy were using the basement space as library.”

The NOC clearly states: “Basement shall be used strictly as per building byelaws”.

The DFS will write to the Delhi Police to add relevant sections to the First Information Report (FIR).

CONDITIONS MENTIONED IN THE NOC

• All the exits passage leading to stairs shall be kept free and clear from lock and keys.
• All the fire safety arrangements provided therein shall be maintained in good working condition at all times.
• Any loss of life or property due to non-functional safety measures shall be at the risk and responsibility of the management.
• The trained staff should be available around the clock.
• The owner shall apply for renewal of the certificate six months prior to its expiry.

THE LIBRARY BIOMETRIC SYSTEM LOCKED THE DOORS

The building had four floors, a parking space and a basement. The rain for an hour on Saturday turned the area into a sinkhole and led to flooding as the silt was not cleared. The clearing of the silt and drain with suction pumps began on Sunday, amid the uproar over the mishap.

According to students, the library had a biometric system installed, which meant that the doors would not open without the fingerprint being verified. As the water started to fill in, the power supply went off, leaving the doors locked. This could amount to “non-functional safety measures” mentioned in the NOC, thus hinting at another violation.

“After every rainfall, water collects in this area. This has been happening for the past many years. The road on which the waterlogging happens acts like a sinkhole. We have our exams in the next few months…In minutes at least the water level in the basement went up to 12 feet…We have seen more bodies being taken by police. The rescue team took hours to reach here…,” said Shadman Zaffar, 26, from Patna, who has been preparing for IAS for the past two years.

Students protested at the site on Sunday, demanding the CCTV footage, claiming that the number of casualties could be at least 20.

ACTION TAKEN SO FAR

Delhi Police on Sunday arrested the owner and coordinator of Rau’s IAS Study Circle — Abhishek Gupta and Deshpal Singh.

The Delhi Police, in its FIR at at Rajinder Nagar Police Station, has booked the accused under:

• Section 105 (culpable homicide)
• Section 106(1) (death of any person by doing any rash or negligent act not amounting to culpable homicide)
• Section 115(2) (punishment for voluntarily causing hurt)
• Section 290 (negligent conduct with respect to pulling down, repairing or constructing buildings)
• Section 3/5 (common intention) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS)

“We have registered an FIR at Rajinder Nagar Police Station…and launched an investigation,” Deputy Commissioner of Police M Harsha Vardhan said, adding they are looking at CCTV footage to understand the sequence of events.

CALL WAS RECEIVED AT 7PM

According to the DFS, a call about waterlogging was received from the coaching centre around 7 pm on Saturday, stating there was a possibility that some people were trapped.

Police said it appeared that the basement got flooded quickly due to which some people were trapped inside. A fire department official said a total of five tenders were rushed to the site and the basement was full of water when they arrived.

Ropes were used to evacuate the trapped students, officials said. The furniture at the coaching centre was floating and created obstruction in the rescue operation, a police officer said.