NEW DELHI: Civil services aspirants have claimed that licensed libraries in Old Rajinder Nagar here and its adjoining areas have doubled their fees after MCD action on coaching centres with illegally run basements.
The Municipal Corpration of Delhi (MCD) has cracked down on the buildings in Old Rajinder Nagar where basements were being used for commercial use, including as libraries.
The civic body action comes following the death of three civil services aspirants in the area last Saturday after a coaching centre basement, which was illegally being used as a library, got flooded due to heavy rain.
"Earlier, the library owners, who ran libraries on the first or second floor, used to charge Rs 2,000 to Rs 3,000 per month but now after the closure of many libraries, they have doubled their fees knowing the students have no other option," said Pankaj, a UPSC aspirant.
"The students who will be appearing for the (UPSC) mains exams shortly have nowhere else to go because the rooms in which we live are so small that we cannot study and we need libraries," Pankaj stated.
Students going to the libraries in the adjoining areas of Rajinder Nagar, such as Patel Nagar, are also being asked to pay fees in the range of Rs 4,000 to Rs 5,000, which is more than double the previous fees, said another student.
The civic body has now cracked down on 29 basements of coaching institutes since Sunday for allegedly operating in violation of the MCD building by-laws.
According to an official statement, the coaching centres that faced action in Rajinder Nagar on Tuesday include the IAS Gurukul Tathastu, Officers IAS Academy, Forum IAS, Psyche World IAS, Sanchetna IAS, Prisha IAS, Path Academy and Drishti IAS.
In the MCD's latest sealing drive in Preet Vihar and Rajdhani Enclave, two basements of coaching centres faced action -- Sanskriti Academy and Pratham Institute, respectively, it said.
The action comes in the wake of flooding in the basement of Rau's IAS Study Circle in Rajinder Nagar that led to the death of three civil services aspirants.
Additionally, the MCD's public health department also deployed a team to inspect the old Rajender Nagar area where 78 paying guest accommodations and 13 guest houses were checked for mosquito breeding.
During the sealing drive in Preet Vihar, Delhi Mayor Shelly Oberoi was present at the site as the agency cracked down on illegally run basements of coaching institutes.
The drive was simultaneously conducted in Mukherjee Nagar and Rajinder Nagar localities, where till Monday night, 20 basements of coaching centres were sealed for running commercial activities.
The civic body sealed 13 such establishments on Sunday in Rajinder Nagar and six more on Tuesday.
One basement of a coaching institute in Mukherjee Nagar was sealed on Monday.