
BHOPAL/INDORE: In light of the deaths of three civil services aspirants at a water-logged coaching centre in Delhi, the Madhya Pradesh government on Monday directed civic bodies to survey coaching classes operating in basements of buildings and ensure safety measures are in place on such premises.
IAS aspirants Shreya Yadav from Uttar Pradesh, Tanya Soni from Telangana and Nevin Dalwin from Kerala died after the basement of Rau's IAS Study Circle, being used as a library, got flooded due to rains in the capital on Saturday evening.
Seven persons, including the owner and coordinator of the coaching institute, have been arrested in connection with the incident.
In a review meeting at the state secretariat on Monday, Chief Minister Mohan Yadav directed officials to inspect coaching institutes being run in basements of buildings and ensure safety measures are in place.
Yadav said the untimely death of three youngsters preparing for civil services exams in Delhi's Old Rajendra Nagar was sad and painful.
Additional chief secretary (ACS) Rajesh Rajoura said municipal commissioners have been directed to inspect coaching centres and other institutions, including lodging facilities, running in basements of buildings in their jurisdiction, and submit a report.
In compliance with the chief minister's directive, instructions have been given to look into the drainage system and ensure safe electrical arrangements in case of waterlogging at coaching centres operating in basements, principal secretary (Revenue) Nikunj Kumar Srivastava said.
Meanwhile, civil services aspirants in Indore raised questions about safety arrangements at coaching institutes, claiming several centres were operating far beyond their capacity.
Around four lakh students are preparing for the civil services examinations in Indore.
Talking to reporters, Aakash Pathak, leader of candidates preparing for the exam in Indore, claimed that many coaching institutes were operating far beyond their capacity and lacked safety arrangements.
"In light of the Delhi incident, coaching institutes in Indore should be investigated, and those ignoring safety norms should be sealed. We have sent a memorandum to the chief minister, collector and police commissioner of Indore," he said.
Indore collector Ashish Singh said, "We will investigate coaching institutes. The investigation team will have officials from the district administration, Indore Municipal Corporation, police and fire department."
He said the administration has been collecting information from the civic body about the number of coaching centres operating in basements of buildings.
"We will inspect the arrangements they have made to deal with fire, flooding and electrical accidents at such institutes," Singh said.