Delhi coaching centre drownings: How did the students get trapped?

The NDRF’s seven-hour rescue efforts in the basement of a coaching centre in Delhi’s Old Rajinder Nagar ended on Sunday (July 28) morning with the discovery of the bodies of three IAS aspirants — Shreya Yadav from Uttar Pradesh, Tanya Soni from Telangana, and Nivin Dalwin from Kerala.

The owner and coordinator of the coaching centre have been arrested even as students continue to protest and political parties engage in their usual blame game. But how did things come to such a pass that NDRF divers had to be called in to rescue students from a basement in the heart of Delhi after 31 mm of rain? How did three of them drown and why couldn’t they climb up to safety?

Even as investigations continue and the authorities struggle to put it all together, here is all that we know about the veritable death trap that was seemingly created by the coaching centre, which claimed three young lives in the most tragic of circumstances:

What was in the basement?

According to preliminary probe, the basement of Rau’s IAS Study Circle housed a library where students would often go to study. According to Delhi Mayor Shelly Oberoi, the completion certificate of this building that housed the coaching centre was given in 2021, and it was clearly written that the basement would be used only for parking and storage. Therefore, it seems the centre had clearly flouted rules by housing the library in the basement.

How did the basement get flooded?

According to a senior police official, the basement was 8 feet below the ground level, and more than 18 students were present in it when water started gushing in on Saturday evening. According to the IMD’s PUSA weather station, which is closest to Old Rajinder Nagar, 31.5 mm of rain was recorded between 5.30 pm and 8.30 pm on Saturday. In that rainfall, the basement reportedly went under 10–12 feet of water so fast that the students got no chance to escape. It is still being investigated how that became possible.

According to police sources, the gate of the basement was closed, but due to the high pressure of rainwater, it got damaged and water gushed in. Some reports say a nearby drain burst, leading to rapid flooding of the basement on Saturday evening. New Delhi MP Bansuri Swaraj of the BJP blamed the local MLA for the incident. “For the past week, locals were urging AAP MLA Durgesh Pathak to get the drain here cleaned. However, he didn’t listen to them,” she alleged.

Some students, who apparently witnessed the entire incident, reportedly told journalists that a biometric system controls access to the building. Therefore, in the case of a power outage, which is likely in the event of a flooding, those inside would have no way to go out. They would literally be trapped. However, police are yet to confirm this.

Did anyone help?

Students and a faculty member reportedly said that when the flooding began, they dialled the 112 emergency number, but Delhi faced massive waterlogging and traffic jams on Saturday evening, which held up rescuers from reaching the centre promptly.

The Delhi Fire Department (DFS) confirmed that they received a call from Rau’s IAS Study Circle around 7 pm on Saturday about the basement of the coaching institute being flooded. A fire department official said five fire tenders were rushed to the centre. But the basement was already full of water when they arrived.

“The caller told us that some people were possibly trapped in the basement. We are investigating how the entire basement was flooded, but it is a fact that the basement got flooded very fast, due to which some people got trapped inside,” DCP Central M Harsha Vardhan said.

The local police, Delhi Fire Services personnel and National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) divers carried out the rescue operations. Barring the three students who drowned, other students were trapped too, and many were pulled up with ropes.

The furniture in the library, which had started floating around in the floodwater, reportedly created obstruction in the rescue operation, too, said a police officer. NDRF divers went into the flooded basement and finally found the three bodies even as pumps were engaged to suck out the water from the basement.

What now?

Delhi Revenue Minister Atishi has directed Chief Secretary Naresh Kumar to initiate an inquiry on the incident and submit a report within 24 hours. “A magisterial inquiry has been ordered to investigate how this incident happened. Whoever is responsible for this incident will not be spared,” Atishi posted on X on Saturday.

Mayor Oberoi has ordered citywide action against similar coaching centres which are violating building by-laws by running commercial activities in basements.

But it’s all too late for the three students who lost their lives in the strangest of circumstances.

(With agency inputs)