New Delhi: Confusion prevails over the details and whereabouts of ‘missing’ students after the Old Rajendra Nagar’s IAS coaching centre tragedy, with one such person clarifying that he was safe and urging the media to stop using his photo.
While three civil services aspirants lost their lives Saturday when the basement of the coaching centre was flooded after heavy rainfall, protesting students have been claiming that the toll was higher and that the whereabouts of some trapped students were still unknown.
ThePrint managed to contact Kingsley Kannan — one such ‘missing’ student — who confirmed that he was safe and living with his friend in Delhi’s Sultanpur.
“After that accident, many of my friends that night reached the spot and were not able to see me. So, they reported to the media (about me missing) without confirming because my phone also got switched off at the time. Till now, the media is showing my photo and that I am missing,” the student from M21 batch of Rau’s coaching centre said over the phone.
Kannan also requested the media to stop using his picture in the media as his parents in Tamil Nadu are getting worried after watching it on television. “I left the library before the tragedy struck. But, there were about 22-25 students who were sitting in the library when I left,” he told ThePrint.
The 23-year-old civil service aspirant joined the Rau’s coaching centre in June last year.
He told ThePrint that a few months after he joined, the students requested the management to open the underground space as a library. Initially, they used it only for test series, where students could sit for exams and leave within 2-3 hours.
Due to high demand for library space, he said, a group of 30-40 students approached the management. The underground space, accommodating around 150-200 students, was mostly unused, he added.
“We suggested converting it into a library, as other libraries in the area are also underground. After a lengthy inquiry, the management agreed, though they still face legal issues regarding its official use as a library,” Kannan told ThePrint.
Meanwhile, the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) has sealed the basements of 13 other civil service coaching centres in the city.
On Monday afternoon, city mayor Shelly Oberoi convened an emergency meeting with top officials of Municipal Corporation of Delhi, PWD, Delhi Jal Board at her office at Civic Centre in the afternoon to discuss issues relating to the Rajinder Nagar incident, water logging, and de-silting.
“Sealing drive also took place today in Rajinder Nagar, and 6 coaching institutes were sealed. An anti-encroachment drive also took place. The sealing drive also took place in Mukherjee Nagar. A junior engineer was terminated, and an assistant engineer was suspended. No such coaching centres, which are running illegally, will be spared,” the mayor said in a video statement.
(Edited by Tony Rai)
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