In a tragic incident, three students lost their lives after the basement of Rau’s IAS, a UPSC coaching center in Rajendra Nagar, Delhi, was flooded following a nearby drain burst on Saturday. The police, fire services, and NDRF teams recovered the bodies from the building. The flood was caused by a burst drain, and pumps were set up to remove the water. According to AAP’s Rajinder Nagar MLA Durgesh Pathak, the issue arose from the drain bursting at a single point, not from a lack of desilting, as only one building’s basement was submerged.
In a separate development, at least four Chief Ministers from the INDIA bloc, including Telangana’s Revanth Reddy, Karnataka’s Siddaramaiah, Himachal Pradesh’s Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu, and Tamil Nadu’s M K Stalin, decided to boycott the NITI Aayog meeting in Delhi. Bihar CM Nitish Kumar also did not attend, according to PTI.
The NITI Aayog meeting aimed to focus on “making India a developed nation by 2047” by addressing various development issues and policy matters. The governing council includes all chief ministers, Lieutenant Governors of Union Territories, and several Union Ministers.
Delhi Minister Atishi, after taking stock of the situation at the Rajendra Nagar coaching center, ordered a magistrate to investigate the incident. She emphasized the need for strong action against those responsible for the negligence that led to the tragedy.
BJP President Virendra Sachdeva criticized the Delhi government, attributing the mishap to the non-cleaning of drains, which caused the drain water to backflow into the basement of the coaching center at high speed. He called for the resignation of Jal Board Minister Atishi and local MLA Durgesh Pathak.
Minister Atishi reiterated the government’s commitment to investigating the incident thoroughly. She stated that the Delhi Fire Department and NDRF were on the spot and that updates on the situation were being monitored closely. A magistrate has been appointed to investigate how the incident occurred, ensuring accountability and preventing future tragedies.
