DPCC president Shri Devender Yadav demands strictest action against those responsible for the deaths of the Civil Services aspirants at Rajinder Nagar basement due to waterlogging—Delhi Government and MCD guilty of neglecting their duties to check monsoon woes

 Congress will fully support the students’ fight for justice—deaths of the bright minds bring a pall of gloom all around—Devender Yadaav

 

NEW DELHI, July 28, 2024—Delhi Pradesh Congresss Committee president Shri Devender Yadav demanded strictest action against those responsible for the death of three IAS aspirants due to waterlogging at the basement of a leading Civil Services tuition centre at Rajinder Nagar after he visited the spot of the mishap. He said that it was indeed very shocking that this incident came on the heels of the electrocution of another IAS aspirant four days ago, which was also due to the negligence and incompetence of the Delhi Government and the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD), both ruled by the Aam Aadmi Party. He said that it was a matter of extreme sadness that such bright minds became victims of official apathy and negligence as  the Kejriwal Government’s incompetence and corruption in carrying out the desilting works and its failure to tackle monsoon woes, resulted in such tragedies. He pointed out that filthy water overflowed from the drain nearby to flood the basement, catching the young students without any escape route.

 

Congress workers held a candle march to mourn the death of the young Civil Services aspirants, whose lives were sniffed out due to the negligence of those in power.

 

Shri Devender Yadav said that Congress party will fully support the students agitating for justice, as the recent mishaps happened due  to the inefficiency and incompetence of the  concerned Delhi Ministers, officials and the MCD Mayor and officials, as they realized about the gravity of their mistakes only after many lives had been lost.

 

Shri Devender Yadav said that Delhi Congress has been raising the issue of water-logging and non- desilting of the drains for the past few weeks after the first major monsoon showers had waterlogged most parts of Delhi. He said that Congress leader  Shri Rahul Gandhi had slammed the authorities for colluding in the illegal constructions which contributed to the latest deaths of IAS aspirants. He said that the Delhi Government does not seem to have learned any lessons from the past incidents of deaths and destruction, as in 2023, 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 of Delhi.

 

Shri Devender Yadav said that in the past 10 years, the Kejriwal Govrnment had only made hollow promises to mislead the people instead of taking effective steps to improve the infrastructure, and improve the drainage system and desilting works, though thousands of crores have been swindled in the name of desilting of drains and sewers. He said that the Aam Aadmi Party came to power in the MCD promising to remove garbage from Delhi, particularly in eliminating the three landfill mountains, but due to the shadow boxing and blame games between the BJP and the Aam Aadmi Party, no work gets done in the MCD, and the garbage mountains had only gained in height in the past one year.

 

Shri Devender Yadav said this year, many lives had been lost due to waterlogging, drowning and electrcocution as on June 25, a woman died due to electrocution at the New Delhi Railway Station, on 27 June, a 17-year-old died at Taimur Nagar due to electrocution, on 28 June, a man was electrocuted at Kirari,  on 29 June, two children died at Sirsapur underpass due to electrocution, a  worker engaged in the Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Narayanan Hospital construction work was electrocuted on July 2, and on July 13, a woman was electrocuted at Yamuna Vihar. He said that all these deaths had happened due to the irresponsible and criminal negligence of the Delhi Government and the power distribution companies, and they have all been getting scotfree even after the deaths of so many innocent people.