The Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) has sealed at least 13 “illegal” coaching centres in Delhi’s Old Rajinder Nagar after three civil service aspirants died in the flooding of the basement of a coaching institute in the same area.

The action by the civic body, which continued till late Sunday night, came after three students – Tania Soni, Shreya Yadav and Navin Delvin – were killed when water suddenly gushed into the basement of Rau’s IAS Study Circle on Saturday evening.

The coaching centres that were sealed included IAS Gurukul, Chahal Academy, Plutus Academy, Sai Trading, IAS Setu, Topper’s Academy, Dainik Samvad, Civils Daily IAS, Career Power, 99 Notes, Vidya Guru, Guidance IAS, and Easy for IAS.

“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,” an order by MCD Mayor Shaili Oberoi said.

The Rau’s IAS Study Circle was already sealed by the police and its owner and the coordinator have been arrested and charged with culpable homicide.

Delhi Coaching Centre Deaths

Tania Soni, Shreya Yadav — both aged 25 — and Navin Delvin, 28 when water gushed into Rau’s IAS Study Circle’s basement – being used as a library in violation of rules.

Several other students were trapped in the waterlogged basement and were rescued after a seven-hour-long operation.

Tanya, who had come from Telangana, was a native of Bihar’s Aurangabad and a student of Delhi University, according to reports. She had been staying at a women’s hostel of Delhi University’s Maharaja Agrasen College and had taken admission to the coaching institute one and a half months ago.

Shreya Yadav was a native of Uttar Pradesh’s Ambedkar Nagar. She earlier used to stay at a PG Hostel in west Delhi’s Shadipur area and had taken admission to the coaching institute two months ago. She had done her BSc in agriculture from a college in Uttar Pradesh.

Nevin, from Ernakulam in Kerala, was pursuing PhD in Arts and Aesthetics from Jawaharlal Nehru University. He had joined the coaching institute eight months ago but had been staying in rented accommodation near the university in the Vasant Kunj area.

How Delhi Coaching Centre Put Lives In Danger

The investigations so far have indicated multiple lapses on the part of the coaching centre’s owner and civic authorities.

The Rau’s IAS Study Circle centre got a No-Objection Certificate from the Municipal Corporation of Delhi in August 2021. The certificate, accessed by NDTV, underlines that the basement is for parking use and household storage.

The coaching centre for civil service aspirants got an NOC from the fire department earlier this month. This document, also accessed by NDTV, mentions that the building has complied with fire safety requirements. It adds that the basement should be used strictly as per building bye-laws.

The building bye-laws lay down that adequate arrangements shall be made to ensure surface drainage does not enter the basement. It also added that if the basement is used for office and commercial purposes, there should be a sufficient number of exit ways and access ways. In the case of the Rajinder Nagar coaching, there was only one entry/exit.

Even as the police are probing the cause behind the flooding, locals blame the poor drainage system in the area. They say it was heavily clogged with silt and overflowed leading to a flood-like situation following rains.

The coaching centre owner Abhishek Gupta and coordinator Deshpal Singh have been remanded the duo in 14 days of judicial custody.

Police have registered a case under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) sections 105 (culpable homicide), 106(1) (death of any person by doing any rash or negligent act not amounting to culpable homicide), 115(2) (punishment for voluntarily causing hurt) and 290 (negligent conduct with respect to pulling down, repairing or constructing buildings).

One person was killed and six others were injured following a mass shooting at a park in New York’s Rochester city today, according to local media.

The Rochester Police said they responded to the Maplewood Park around 6:20 pm for the report of a large gathering with shots fired and found several people suffering from gunshot wounds, and a large group of people fleeing from the scene.

According to the police, a 20-year-old died, another in life threatening condition and an additional five people have been hospitalised with “relatively minor injuries” at this time as a result of this shooting.

Police said some people were transported to the hospital by private vehicle throughout the night and others by ambulance.

The identity of the victim who was shot has not yet been released yet.

Several police agencies responded to the park including the Irondequoit Police, Monroe County Sheriffs, Rochester Police and New York State Police. 

Maldives President Mohamed Muizzu thanked India for its support of the island nation in easing its debt repayment and affirmed hope that New Delhi and Male would forge stronger ties and sign a free trade agreement.

Muizzu was addressing the official Independence Day function in the Maldives on Friday. During his address, he commended the administration’s foreign policy, celebrating eight months of ‘diplomatic success,’ according to the Maldives President Office.

President Muizzu expressed gratitude to India and China for their support in easing the Maldives’ debt repayment, thereby enabling the country to ensure economic sovereignty.

Emphasising the need to alleviate the local shortages of US dollars, he said that the Maldives government is negotiating currency swap agreements with both New Delhi and Beijing.

The Maldives President also announced that his administration is negotiating a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with the United Kingdom and expressed hope to reach a similar agreement with India.

Notably, the Mohamed Muizzu government in the Maldives took a reconciliatory tone after ties between the two nations soured, leading to a diplomatic row.

Last month, President Muizzu also attended the oath ceremony of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, after he took office for the third consecutive term.

Earlier this year, Muizzu sought debt relief measures in the repayment of the hefty loans taken from the country over consecutive governments. He even stated that India will continue to remain the Maldives’ “closest ally” and emphasised that there was no question about it.

The loan amount owed by Maldives to India by the end of last year stood at 6.2 billion Maldivian Rufiyaa, according to Maldives-based The Edition.

Notably, earlier this year, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) warned Maldives that it faces a high risk of debt distress without significant policy changes.

Notably, Maldives President Mohamed Muizzu has displayed ‘anti-India’ rhetoric and he even ran the electoral campaign on the line of ‘India Out’. The removal of Indian troops from the country was the main election campaign of Muizzu’s party.

Since coming to power, he has taken several steps that have been unconventional from the point of view of India-Maldives ties.

He departed from a long convention by not visiting India on the first official visit and instead went to Turkey, followed by China. During his visit, the two countries elevated their ties to comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership and signed around 20 agreements.

Last December, the Maldives said it would not renew the Hydrographic Survey agreement made with India.

After Muizzu government officially requested India to withdraw troops, the Indian government set up a High-Level Core Group to discuss the matter. The withdrawal of Indian troops was completed in May this year.

Days after the withdrawal of Indian soldiers, Maldives Defence Minister Ghassan Maumoon also acknowledged that the country’s defence forces were capable of operating the three aircraft donated by India,

The row between New Delhi and Male erupted after three Maldivian deputy ministers made derogatory comments against Prime Minister Narendra Modi, over his pictures from the visit to Lakshadweep.

PM Modi had called for the Indian island cluster to be developed as a destination for beach tourism and promotion of domestic tourism.

The matter snowballed into a major diplomatic row, with New Delhi summoning the Maldivian envoy and registering a strong protest against the viral posts. The three deputy ministers were suspended and they remain under suspension with pay.

Maldives Tourism Ministry data showed, earlier this year, that the number of Indian tourists visiting the Maldives dropped by 33 per cent as compared to last year.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)