There is 'rampant violation' of norms in Delhi, says Shashi Tharoor on Old Rajinder Nagar incident

New Delhi: Congress MP Shashi Tharoor on Monday spoke about the recent incident in Old Rajinder Nagar, in which a UPSC aspirant from Kerala and two other students lost their lives, and said that there is "rampant violation of basic norms" in the national capital.

On Saturday evening, three aspiring civil servants died in the flooded basement of Rau's IAS Study Circle due to flood and waterlogging there owing to heavy rainfall. One male and two female UPSC aspirants died while 17 others were trapped for several hours after water suddenly entered the basement of the coaching centre which had just one exit.

The basement functioned as the library which, as has emerged, existed in violation of the rules since the space is allowed to be used only for parking and storage.

Tharoor described the incident as "shocking" and emphasised the devastating impact on the families involved, noting that "no compensation can be enough for the tragic loss of life of a young man cut short in his prime."

"I have to say that when you have the brilliant student, all the dreams of serving the nation have been shattered, along with the hopes of the family," he added.

Highlighting the need to address these serious issues he said, "There is sadly rampant violation of basic norms when it comes to building codes, fire safety, flood safety and so on in the national capital."

Criticising the Municipal Corporation for its role, the Lok Sabha MP pointed out, "The corporation also has a responsibility for this. I have seen, in the hands of a journalist, a certificate of clearance issued on July 9 by the corporation allowing these people to be doing what they are doing. This kind of thing will have to be corrected."

At the same time, drains have to be cleaned," he added.

"The most important issue, and I say this on behalf of the family also, is to prevent such future tragedies. For this, there has to be a comprehensive enquiry, but there also has to be very specific steps taken to ensure that no other parents coming to the national capital from various parts of the country suffer this kind of loss and tragedies," Tharoor said.