In a swift crackdown, the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) has sealed at least 13 illegal coaching centres in Old Rajinder Nagar following the tragic deaths of three civil service aspirants due to flooding. The action, which continued until late Sunday night, comes after the unfortunate demise of Tania Soni, Shreya Yadav, and Navin Delvin, who lost their lives when water suddenly inundated the basement of Rau’s IAS Study Circle on Saturday evening.
The sealed coaching centres include IAS Gurukul, Chahal Academy, Plutus Academy, Sai Trading, IAS Setu, Topper’s Academy, Dainik Samvad, Civils Daily IAS, Career Power, 99 Notes, Vidya Guru, Guidance IAS, and Easy for IAS. These institutes were found to be operating without proper licenses and in violation of safety regulations.
The Rau’s IAS Study Circle, where the tragedy occurred, had already been sealed by the police. Its owner and the coordinator have been arrested and charged with culpable homicide. The basement, used as a library in violation of rules, became a death trap for the students when water gushed in unexpectedly.
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Tania Soni and Shreya Yadav, both aged 25, along with Navin Delvin, 28, were among those who died. Several other students trapped in the waterlogged basement were rescued after a strenuous seven-hour operation.
Tania Soni, originally from Bihar’s Aurangabad, was a student at Delhi University and had been residing at a women’s hostel in the university’s Maharaja Agrasen College. She had joined the coaching institute a month and a half ago.
Shreya Yadav hailed from Uttar Pradesh’s Ambedkar Nagar. She had been staying in a PG hostel in Shadipur, west Delhi, and had enrolled in the coaching institute two months ago. She held a BSc in agriculture from a college in Uttar Pradesh.
Navin Delvin, from Ernakulam in Kerala, was pursuing a PhD in Arts and Aesthetics at Jawaharlal Nehru University. He had joined the coaching institute eight months ago and was living in rented accommodation near the university in the Vasant Kunj area.
The tragedy has sparked a debate about the safety and legality of coaching centres in Delhi, with many calling for stricter regulations and better enforcement to prevent such incidents in the future. The MCD’s swift action to seal illegal centres underscores the urgent need for regulatory oversight in the education sector.