Excavators are in action to remove illegal occupation from Delhi’s Rajinder Nagar.
Two days after a basement in Delhi’s Rajinder Nagar flooded, killing three International Aptitude Test (IAS) candidates, civic authorities have begun bulldozing the area to remove encroachments that have blocked drains and contributed to the waterlogging problem.
A video tweeted by news agency ANI showed excavators digging and removing blocks of cement blocking the drain.
#WATCH | Civil workers step up to clear encroachment in drain in Old Rajinder Nagar, Delhi following drowning of three UPSC aspirants at IAS coaching institute pic.twitter.com/NR6sjw5a7b
— ANI (@ANI) July 29, 2024
Students, who have protested the three deaths and criticized city authorities for inaction, see the bulldozers as too little, too late. “This is all a sham,” one student said.
The Delhi Municipal Corporation has come under fire over the tragic incident in which two 25-year-old women and a 28-year-old man were locked in the basement library of Rau’s IAS Study Circle in Rajinder Nagar, resulting in their deaths. It has emerged that the library was functioning in violation of rules as the civic body had only allowed it to be used as a parking lot and storeroom.
Around 20 students were found to be in the library on Saturday evening when heavy rains caused water to flow in. There was only one entrance/exit in the basement. Some reports said that the waterlogging caused the biometric authentication system to stop working, trapping the students. While 17 were rescued in time, three drowned. The victims have been identified as Taniya Soni, Shreya Yadav and Navin Dalwin. The incident has sparked huge outrage, with students accusing the civic authorities of inaction despite multiple warnings that clogged drains and encroachments could lead to tragedy.
Following the incident, civic authorities have cracked down on and sealed 13 IAS coaching centres for allegedly violating building norms, and Delhi Mayor Sherry Oberoi has ordered an investigation into whether MCD officials were involved in the lapses.
