 "MCD, Delhi Police spring into action as Karol Bagh deaths reach Parliament")
A day after the arrest of the owner and coordinator of Rau's IAS Study Circle, Delhi Police on Monday said they have arrested five more people in connection with the case where three UPSC aspirants died by drowning in the basement of the coaching centre.
Among the arrested is also the driver of an SUV which drove through the flooded street on Saturday, causing the water to breach the gates of the three-storey building. The car has also been seized. All five have been sent to judicial custody till August 12.
Amid high-voltage protests and charges of negligence, the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) also demolished encroachments in the area and arrested two officials for the alleged lapses.
MCD Commissioner Ashwani Kumar told reporters that they would "recover" the drainage system in the region.
"MCD has terminated a junior engineer and suspended an assistant engineer and seeks an explanation from the concerned executive engineer," he added. On Sunday evening, MCD also sealed the basements of 13 coaching centres due to violations.
A senior official at MCD told Business Standard that more basements could be sealed in the coming days.
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"We are surveying the basements in the region and many violations have been found. Soon many more basements would be sealed," he said, on condition of anonymity.
In Old Rajendra Nagar and Karol Bagh, most coaching institutes remained shut for the second day amid the bulldozer action and student protests. Hundreds continued to sit on the streets near Karol Bagh metro station, demanding a fair trial and compensation for the families of the deceased.
An aspirant, 28-year-old Rohit Singh from Uttar Pradesh, said, "Everyone is heartbroken here. It's been two days but not many of us have been able to make our peace with it."
Lt Governor VK Saxena also visited the area on Monday and met protesting students, but not many were happy with his visit. Amid loud slogans of "We want justice", students asked Saxena to join them in protest.
"We don't want to meet anyone. It took the death of three of us to make them realise the enormity of the situation and notice the poor living conditions here," added Shruti Verma, a 23-year-old aspirant from Haryana.
Since Saturday, when three students, Tanya Soni, Shreya Yadav, and Navin Dalwin, died by drowning in the basement of Rau's IAS Study Circle building, MCD has also launched a sealing drive in Mukherjee Nagar, another hub for UPSC coaching in Delhi.
Delhi Fire Services said that the basement, which got flooded, was operating illegally as a library. It has initiated the process of cancelling the no-objection certificate (NOC) of the building, which was constructed in 2021.
The NOC, seen by Business Standard, mentions that the basement would be used for parking and storage. According to Delhi's bye-laws, any space marked for parking and storage is not counted in the Floor Area Ratio (FAR), allowing the person to construct additional floors on top of the building.
The tragic issue reached Parliament with BJP Member of Parliament (MP) Bansuri Swaraj blaming the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) for its "apathy". She also asked for an inquiry under the Ministry of Home Affairs.
"Criminal negligence of the Aam Aadmi Party has led to the death of these students. An inquiry should be set up on the Delhi Government which is neck-deep in corruption. Why are the drains not being cleaned in Delhi?" she said in Lok Sabha.
Shashi Tharoor, Congress MP from Thiruvananthapuram, also said that there have been violations of safety rules. He met Dalvin's relatives in New Delhi.
"This is a matter that calls for compensation, but no amount of compensation can make up for the tragic loss of a young man whose life was cut short in his prime," he said.
Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav wrote to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, asking the Centre to pay Rs 1 crore as compensation to the next of kin of the students who passed away. Business Standard has seen a copy of the letter.
On Monday evening, Centre said that the Home Ministry has constituted a committee to inquire into the incident. It will submit its report in 30 days.
" The committee will inquire into the reasons, fix responsibility, suggest measures and recommend policy changes," a spokesperson of the ministry said.