2 dead as water enters IAS coaching centre in West Delhi

At least two to three more students are feared trapped in the basement, police and Delhi Fire Services said

At least two students at a civil services coaching centre died after water gushed into the basement of the institute in Old Rajendra Nagar, west Delhi, after heavy rain lashed parts of the Capital on Saturday evening, officers from the fire department said, adding that more people were feared trapped in the basement. Police said that both victims were women and at least two to three more students were still missing.

NDRF, fire department, and Delhi Police carry out a rescue operation at the site on Saturday night. (Sanchit Khanna/HT Photo)

Personnel from the Delhi Fire Services, National Disaster Response Force, Delhi Police and civic agencies were pressed into action and carrying out rescue operations at the time of going to print. The bodies of the women, whose identities and ages were yet to confirmed, were recovered late on Saturday night.

Delhi Fire Services (DFS) chief Atul Garg said that the fire control room received a call at 7pm, regarding the incident. “Five fire tenders reached the place from where the call was made. The rescuers from the fire department found waterlogging in the basement of Rau’s IAS Study Circle at Bada Bazar Marg in Old Rajendra Nagar. The owner of the institute informed us that three to four students were missing... Since the basement was flooded and the road outside the institute was also waterlogged, clearing water became difficult. Teams of the NDRF and other agencies also joined the rescue operation,” said Garg.

Garg added that around 10.30pm, the rescue and search teams fished out the body of two women. “Whether more students are trapped in the flooded basement can be confirmed only after the operation is complete and the entire water from the basement is flushed out,” he added.

Deputy commissioner of police (central) Harsha Vardhan said that basement got flooded due to waterlogging caused by the heavy rainfall. The basement was dark, which hampered the rescue operation, he said.

“At 7pm, we received information that the basement of a USPC coaching institute in Rajendra Nagar has been flooded with a possibility of some people trapped. We are investigating how the basement got flooded... it appears that flooding happened very fast. DFS and NDRF teams are present here. Search and rescue operations are underway,” said the DCP.

He added that the rescue operations were also taking time as the basement was dark and the furniture kept there were floating.

Delhi minister Atishi ordered an immediate investigation into the matter. in a letter on Saturday evening, she asked the chief secretary to carry out a magisterial inquiry and submit a report within 24 hours.

“There is news of an accident due to heavy rain in Delhi in the evening... water filling in the basement of a coaching institute in Rajendra Nagar. Delhi Fire Department and NDRF are on the spot. Delhi Mayor and local MLA are also there. I am taking updates of the incident every minute. A magistrate has been ordered to investigate the matter. Whoever is responsible for this incident will not be spared,” Atishi posted on X.

The owner of the coaching institute could not be contacted.

Mayor Shelly Oberoi said: “MLA Durgesh Pathak and I reached the spot immediately. One drain backflowed suddenly it seems which led to the incident. We are investigating the matter. We assure everyone that whoever is responsible for this, even if it is MCD, action will be taken”.

Meanwhile, Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva who was at the site with MP Bansuri Swaraj said that the incident was a clear case of negligence caused due to the non cleaning of drains. The drain water has backflowed into the basement of the coaching centre at a very high speed,” said Sachdeva.

Saturday’s showers were scattered in Delhi. While some weather stations recorded no rainfall at all, some logged above 25mm of rainfall. At Safdarjung, representative of Delhi’s weather, no rainfall was recorded between 5.30pm and 8.30pm. However, the Pusa weather station recorded 26.5mm rain. The Rajendra Nagar area falls in the zone of the Pusa observatory.