NEW DELHI: Councillors from the BJP and Congress stormed the well of the MCD House on Monday to protest the tragic deaths at a Rajinder Nagar coaching centre and demanded the resignation of both the Delhi mayor and Chief Minister in response to the incident.
Opposition councillors also voiced their outrage through slogans and posters against the AAP-led Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD).
The mayor, faced with the commotion, adjourned the session before it officially began and exited the House. Following the adjournment, BJP councillors continued their demonstration on the fourth floor of the Civic Centre, insisting that the mayor reconvene the session. They also called for an investigation into the deaths and chanted slogans targeting Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.
Meanwhile, Mayor Shelly Oberoi held an emergency meeting with the civic body officials over the incident. The MCD commissioner, Delhi Jal Board chief executive officer and the public works department principal secretary were present at the meeting.
Cracking the whip after three IAS aspirants died at a coaching centre, the MCD terminated an officer and suspended another as well as launched an anti-encroachment drive in the Old Rajinder Nagar area here on Monday.
On Sunday, the civic body had sealed 13 illegal coaching centres in the area.
Rau's IAS Study Circle, where the three students were killed on Saturday after its basement was flooded due to rain, has already been sealed by police.
A junior engineer has been terminated and an assistant engineer suspended in connection with the deaths at the coaching centre, MCD Commissioner Ashwani Kumar told PTI.
The two officials are part of the maintenance department of the Karol Bagh Zone, he said.
The contract of the junior engineer "is hereby terminated with immediate effect".
The assistant engineer "will be paid subsistence allowance during the suspension period", an official order said.
The officers' termination and suspension orders will be released soon, sources said.
Meanwhile, the MCD launched an anti-encroachment drive in Old Rajinder Nagar to remove illegal structures covering storm drains in the area which leads to waterlogging.
Some bulldozers were seen in action near Rau's IAS Study Circle.
The MCD commissioner had told PTI earlier that storm drains had been covered by encroachers in the area and this led to waterlogging and rainwater entering the basement of the coaching centre.
(With inputs from PTI)
