Delhi Lieutenant Governor V K Saxena on Monday announced a compensation of Rs 10 lakh for the families of each of the three victims who died after flooding of the basement of a coaching centre in Old Rajinder Nagar.
According to a Raj Niwas statement, Saxena who visited the coaching hub of Old Rajinder Nagar and interacted with students protesting over the incident, also assured action against officials of Delhi Fire Services (DFS), police, and Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) responsible for the incident within 24 hours.
The LG interacted with some of the students, even as “go back” slogans were raised by some protesters. Slogans against the MCD and Delhi Police were also raised by the agitated students.
The angry students also raised the slogan “we want justice”, insisting that the LG join them and speak instead of standing behind the barricade erected by the police.
As the sloganeering intensified, Mr Saxena returned without properly addressing them.
He, however, said, “I am with you.” He said it was his promise that nobody responsible for the deaths of the students will be spared.
The Raj Niwas statement said the LG interacted “freely” with the students, who raised various demands including compensation, strict action against safety lapses and illegal libraries, fixing responsibility for the incident, and safety audit of all buildings and basements of coaching institutes.
A compensation of Rs 10 lakh has been announced, the statement said.
The Joint Task Force of MCD and DFS, constituted under the order of the Delhi High Court in the fire incident at a coaching centre at Mukherjee Nagar earlier this year, will also undertake a survey of all buildings in Rajinder Nagar area, it said.
It will seal off all basements and other illegal structures which are in violation of building byelaws, MPD 2021 and fire safety norms, the statement said.
The Joint Task Force will also undertake similar audit in Mukherjee Nagar, Kalu Sarai, Neb Sarai, Ber Sarai, Vijay Nagar, Outram Line, Hudson Line, Gupta Colony, and other coaching hubs of the city and seal off all illegal basements and other illegal structures, it added.
The LG also promised for putting in place a regulatory mechanism for rationalizing and fixing rent as soon as possible, over the complaint of protesters that they were charged exorbitant rents.
“The grievances of students regarding exorbitant rentals, fee and electricity charges will be looked into by a committee. Fixation of upper limits will be undertaken as a long term measure,” the statement said.
It said that all these actions will be completed within two weeks.
Further, it said that there will be zero tolerance on “illegal operation” of coaching or any other commercial institutions in residential areas.
“In case a building is operating completely in violation, action to demolish the building be taken as per rules,” it said.
The MCD will deploy a team of engineers to undertake comprehensive desilting of Rajinder Nagar drains and those in adjoining areas within one week.
The LG also assured other steps as demanded by the protesters, including repair of hanging overhead power cables.
Three civil services aspirants died Saturday evening after water from a flooded drain gushed into the basement of Rau’s IAS Study Circle where a library was set up.
The victims have been identified as Uttar Pradesh’s Shreya Yadav, Telangana’s Tanya Soni and Kerala’s Navin Dalwin.
