Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee president Devender Yadav on Sunday demanded stringent action against those found responsible for negligence causing the death of three civil services aspirants in Old Rajinder Nagar due to flooding at the basement of a coaching centre.
DPCC chief Yadav, who visited the spot where the mishap took place, expressed shock over the tragic incident. He attributed it to the incompetence of the Delhi government and the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD), both ruled by the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP).
Yadav called it a matter of extreme sadness that such bright minds became victims of official apathy and negligence, alleging that the Kejriwal Government’s incompetence and corruption in carrying out the de-silting works and its failure to tackle monsoon woes, resulted in such tragedies.
He pointed out that filthy water overflowing from the drain nearby to flood the basement leaving the young students without any escape route.
Congress workers also held a candlelight march to mourn the death of the young civil services aspirants, whose lives were cut short due to the negligence of those in power.
The Congress leader said the grand old party would fully support the students agitating for justice, over the recent mishaps. He said the Delhi Congress has been raising the issue of water-logging and non-cleaning of the drains for the past few weeks after the first major monsoon showers had waterlogged most parts of the national capital.
Yadav hit out at the Delhi government saying that it does not seem to have learned any lessons from the past incidents of deaths and destruction, while he referred to an incident of 2023, where 50-60 students had suffered serious injuries following a major fire at a coaching institute in Mukherjee Nagar, and on 29 June 2024 two children, aged 8 and 10 years old, drowned after falling in a deep rainwater ditch in the New Usmanpur area, Delhi Congress chief added.
Taking a dig at the Delhi government, he said during the past 10 years, the ruling dispensation in the city had only made hollow promises to mislead the people instead of taking effective steps to improve the infrastructure and improve the drainage system.
He alleged that a huge amount of money had been swindled in the name of the desilting of drains and sewers.
Sharpening his attack on the AAP, he said since the party came to power in the MCD promising to remove garbage from the city, particularly in eliminating the three landfill mountains, nothing concrete has been done, while the garbage sites have gained more height due to the shadow boxing and blame games between the BJP and the AAP.