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Coaching centre deaths: Delhi chief secretary seeks report on drain desilting audits; halts payments
Three civil service aspirants tragically died when water from a flooded drain rushed into the library basement of Rau's IAS Study Circle
Delhi Chief Secretary Naresh Kumar has instructed all departments to withhold payments to contractors for drain desilting until a third-party audit of the work is completed.
This decision was made after three civil service aspirants tragically died when water from a flooded drain rushed into the library basement of Rau's IAS Study Circle in Old Rajinder Nagar on Saturday. The students — Shreya Yadav, Tanya Soni, and Nevin Dalvin — died on July 27.
In response to a note from Delhi Urban Development Minister Saurabh Bharadwaj, the chief secretary stated that the additional chief secretary (urban development) was instructed to provide a factual note and the information requested by the minister regarding the third-party audit of drain desilting by various agencies.
On May 27, the Urban Development Department instructed all departments to conduct a third-party audit of the desilting work, following a high court order. Kumar stated that all relevant departments have been told not to pay any contractor involved in desilting drains until the work is verified through a third-party audit.
On Tuesday, Bharadwaj wrote a note to the chief secretary asking for an explanation about his statement regarding unfinished decisions about the city's drainage system.
On Wednesday, the Delhi High Court ordered authorities to clear all obstructions from drains in Old Rajinder Nagar by Friday. The court added that the responsibility of the investigation needed to be fixed. “If it is not then we will transfer the investigation under some central agency. We will either bring it under CVC (CBI) or Lokpal we will bring under. We will like it to be done under some statutory mechanism. It will bring a larger picture. We will pass a straight order over there. Fixing responsibility in this case. This is a serious incident. It is infrastructure breakdown at the larger level. First, it’s a case of negligence,” it said.
Five people were arrested, including four co-owners of the basement where the coaching centre was located. Among those arrested was the driver of an SUV that drove through a flooded street, causing water to overflow and flood the basement of the three-story building. The SUV was also seized.
