Parties play blame game

Opposition parties in Delhi on Sunday termed as “murder” the deaths of three civil services aspirants due to flooding of a coaching centre’s basement and the incident a “man-made disaster”, as they attacked the AAP-led MCD and government over the tragedy.

The Arvind Kejriwal-led party, however, sought to blame the BJP over the incident, saying though it was in power in the municipal body for 15 years, it neglected the city’s drainage system.

“Our government has been in power for the past one year and we are working on drainage. I do not want to get into any blame game. I want that there should be an impartial investigation and strict action taken against those responsible,” Rajinder Nagar MLA and MCD in-charge Durgesh Pathak said.

Delhi BJP chief Virendra Sachdeva termed as “murder” the deaths of the students and said they had come to Delhi to build their future but became “victims of corruption”.

The (waterlogging) issue was brought to the notice of Pathak on July 22 and then again on July 24 by locals but “he did not do anything” about it, BJP’s New Delhi MP Bansuri Swaraj claimed and said the incident could have been avoided.

“Pathak and the Kejriwal government’s negligence led to the death of the three students,” she said.

Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera said this is a “manmade disaster”.

“The students had come from far-off places to study in Delhi. But what is the system for separating illegal structures from legal structures? Is the MCD looking into it? What about the drainage system? All these questions plague these controversies around these deaths,” he said.

Last week, a student — a civil services aspirant in Mukherjee Nagar — died after touching a live wire, he said. Is this how students coming to Delhi should be treated, Khera asked.

The Congress leader said action has to be taken, accountability has to be fixed, and Delhi cannot be seen as such an “insensitive” city.

Senior AAP leader and Delhi Cabinet Minister Saurabh Bharadwaj shared a video on X of a meeting on waterlogging and de-silting of drains. In the meeting, the Delhi chief secretary, the MCD commissioner and the PWD principal secretary were also present.

In a post on X in Hindi, he said, “Even though it is not my department, but even the minister concerned will agree. These officers cannot be transferred by the government and action cannot be taken against them. Only LG (Delhi Lt Governor) sir can take action.”

BJP leader Sachdeva said, “Nobody is answering how the library was established in the basement. There was an incident in Mukherjee Nagar, the Delhi government had launched an investigation. What has happened to the investigation? Delhi Minister (Atishi) has still not reached the spot (Rajinder Nagar). The locals were asking for cleaning of drains. Whoever is responsible should be punished. What is the fault of students?”.

Delhi Congress chief Devender Yadav visited the area. “Students are holding an agitation and they are not listening to politicians. Their agitation is right because they have lost their colleagues and friends. Those who are responsible should be punished. I have also come here to participate in their fight and will not leave till justice is served,” he said.

Pathak attacked the BJP, saying it neglected the city’s drainage system for 15 years, and stressed on the need for a transparent investigation into the incident. Rather than indulging in a political blame game, solutions need to be discussed, he said.

“Not only in Rajinder Nagar but in many areas of Delhi, many people are using basements for commercial activities. It is being said that the coaching institute where this incident took place was waterlogged. Children were studying in the basement. During this time, a vehicle passed by and the basement door broke after being hit by it and the basement got filled with water,” he said.

Pathak asserted that the drain near the institute had been de-silted. Still, it should be investigated with complete transparency, he said.

“Whoever is responsible for this, strict action should be taken against them. I met the CEO of the DJB (Delhi Jal Board) and MCD officials 20 days ago. I talked to them about de-silting and cleaning drains. I am demanding super shaker and dicky machines, but where 10 machines are to be installed, only two machines are coming,” he said.

“Machines are coming for two hours. There is a shortage of that. If action is not taken against the business activities and coaching institutes running in the basement against rules, the entire system will be ruined. The incident happened due to waterlogging, tomorrow some other incident can happen,” the AAP leader said.

The BJP was in power in the MCD for 15 years, but Delhi's drainage system is in shambles, he said.

The Rajinder Nagar MLA said the BJP will do politics over it but the AAP will not get into its politics.

“We have to look for solutions,” he said. Entire Delhi has to be covered and every house needs to visited, and if commercial activity is going on in the basement of any house, it will have to be sealed, Pathak said.

Pathak said he will discuss this issue with ministers. “Strict action should also be taken against the officials of the DJB. Twenty days ago, I met the CEO of the DJB and the officers of MCD. Sewers are blocked at many places, pipelines are broken at many places, they need to be replaced, but no action is being taken on this,” he added.