Rau’s IAS Study Circle is “running a classroom without NOC in the basement… there is a possibility of a major accident….”

Aspiring civil servant Kishore Singh Kushwah wrote this to the Delhi government’s building department on June 26 — with two reminders this month — before three of his peers drowned in a flash flood at a basement library at Rau’s on Saturday night.

That tragedy has prompted another would-be civil servant, Abhishek Dubey, enrolled in another coaching institute, to write an email to the Chief Justice of India on Sunday on how “students like us are living a life like hell….”

Abhishek wrote: “We have to walk knee-deep in drain water. Sir, due to the indifference of the Municipality and the Delhi Government, today students like us are living a life like hell for our preparation.

Abhishek Dubey, who has written to the CJI. Sourced by The Telegraph

“Students like us are moving towards our goals by whatever means we can. But yesterday’s incident has proved that the lives of students are not safe. Delhi government and municipality have made us helpless to live like insects.

“Sir, it is our fundamental right to study while living a healthy life, unfortunately the Delhi Government and Municipality are completely indifferent to it due to which the lives of students like us are in danger.”

Kishore’s complaint, filed on the building department’s Public Grievance Portal, said: “I am Kishore Singh Kushwah, resident of Karol Bagh and Raus’s IAS, despite not having permission, they are running a classroom without NOC in the basement, the location of which is Old Rajinder Nagar, Karol Bagh, New Delhi and they are running test classes, which is affecting the lives of students and staff. There is a danger to the MCD and there is a possibility of a major accident….”

Kushwah also made an unsubstantiated claim about the bribery of a senior municipal official by the coaching institute’s owner.

Abhishek introduced himself to The Telegraph as an Uttar Pradesh native who studied in Mumbai and is currently at Sanskriti IAS, another sought-after coaching centre, for a chance to be part of the bureaucracy and cure the ills he has complained about.

Scores of students like the three deceased — Shreya Yadav (25) of Uttar Pradesh, Tanya Soni (25) of Telangana, and Nevin Dalvin (28) of Kerala — have been protesting near the building that houses Rau’s.

The institute had an unauthorised library in the basement that turned into a watery grave when rainwater from a flooded road outside gushed in after the gate gave way.

Besides the owner and an employee of the institute, five others — including the driver of an SUV who is suspected to have damaged the gate — have been arrested.

The AAP and BJP protested on the streets against each other on Monday. The AAP accuses lieutenant governor V.K. Saxena of inaction against officials who failed to desilt drains as required before the monsoon, leading to waterlogging.

The BJP accuses the AAP-run Delhi government and Municipal Corporation of Delhi of apathy and paralysis with their jailed chief minister, Arvind Kejriwal, refusing to quit and pave the way for a full-time executive in his place.

Revenue minister Atishi accused chief secretary Naresh Kumar of ignoring her orders to submit a report on the tragedy within 24 hours. A law passed by Parliament last year gives the Centre the upper hand in controlling the bureaucrats of the Delhi government.

The MCD has sacked or suspended some of its officials for dereliction, sealed parts of several errant coaching centres, and demolished unauthorised constructions since Sunday.

The Congress held candlelight vigils across the capital and blamed both the AAP and the BJP for the mess Delhi is in. This monsoon season in the city has so far witnessed 18 rain-related deaths — many of them caused by poor civic infrastructure and rules enforcement.

The National Human Rights Commission has put the Delhi government and the police on notice for the electrocution of another civil service aspirant, who died while wading through a puddle in the city last week.

LG Saxena was shouted down by protesters when he visited Old Rajinder Nagar on Monday.

He told them: “I promise you, no one will be spared. My condolences to the families who have lost their children.... Give me some time. I promise you that I am with you.”

A compensation of ₹10 lakh each is to be given to the kin of the dead.

At the mortuary of the Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital, Linu Raj was consoled by the JNU classmates of his deceased nephew, Nevin.

“What will we do with compensation? Nevin won’t return. We just want action to be taken so that young lives are not lost in the future,” Raj told PTI.

A Union home ministry spokesperson said the ministry had constituted a committee to inquire into the “unfortunate incident”.

“The committee will inquire into the reasons, fix responsibility, suggest measures and recommend policy changes” in its report, to be handed in within 30 days.