Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Sunday condoled the death of three students who died due to flooding in the basement of a coaching centre in Delhi's Old Rajinder Nagar area, and called the tragedy the "collective failure of the system". The Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha stressed that the safety of every citizen is the responsibility of governments.
Three UPSC aspirants -- Tania Soni (25), Shreya Yadav (25), and Nevin Dalwin (28) -- died after the basement of Rau's IAS Study Circle in Old Rajinder Nagar got flooded following heavy rain in the national capital. The basement housed a library where several students studied.
"The death of competitive students due to waterlogging in the basement of a building in Delhi is very unfortunate. A few days ago, a student died due to electric shock during the rains. I express my heartfelt condolences to all the bereaved families," Gandhi wrote in Hindi in a post on X (formally Twitter).
"This collapse of infrastructure is a collective failure of the system. The common citizen is paying the price of unsafe construction, poor town planning and irresponsibility of institutions at every level by losing his life. A safe and comfortable life is the right of every citizen and the responsibility of the governments," he added.
Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi also condemned the incident and called it "criminal and irresponsible".
"The incident of the death of three students due to water logging in the basement of a coaching institute in Delhi is heartbreaking. I pray to God for the departed souls and the grieving families. Recently a student died due to electric shock in Patel Nagar. It is the height of carelessness and mismanagement that the lives of children who come here from far-off places to fulfill their dreams are being snatched away from them. This is criminal and irresponsible. Accountability must be fixed and most importantly, every construction, every activity that is illegal and life-threatening in the areas where competitive students live must be rectified," she wrote in Hindi on X.
Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MP Swati Maliwal also slammed the Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal-led government over the tragedy and demanded a compensation of Rs 1 crore to the families of the deceased.
She said she met the families of the two female students who died in the accident. "Both the families are in a bad state and their only demand is that the culprits should be punished harshly. They are repeatedly saying that this should not happen to anyone else. It is very sad that even now the Delhi government ministers, MCD mayor, MLAs and councillors - no one has come to meet them. They are just sitting in AC and tweeting. The minister and the mayor should come to them and apologize, tell them how they will get justice and give them compensation of Rs 1 crore. I will raise this issue in Parliament, I promise I will fight until I get justice," Maliwal said in post on X.
Meanwhile, Delhi police have arrested Abhishek Gupta, the owner, and Deshpal Singh, the coordinator, of the coaching centre, and booked them under charges of culpable homicide and negligence.