Delhi flooding deaths: Drishti IAS of '12th Fail' movie fame among 20 coaching centers sealed

New Delhi: Drishti IAS, one of the prominent coaching centers for civil services aspirants in Mukherjee Nagar is one among 20 coaching centers that were sealed for operating in basements in violation of rules.

Vikas Divyakirti who played himself in Vidhu Vinod Chopra's 12th Fail movie, runs this coaching institute.

The crackdown comes two days after three civil services aspirants died after a library housed in the basement of Rau's IAS Study Circle in Rajinder Nagar was inundated following heavy rain. It reportedly led to the failure of the single biometric entry and exit point.

Victims--Tanya Soni, 25, from Telangana; Shreya Yadav, 25, from Uttar Pradesh; and Navin Delvin, 28, from Kerala were trapped for over four hours when water suddenly gushed into the basement following heavy rains. There was a drain that burst in the area leading to heavy flooding.

Vikas Divyakirti, a former civil servant whose YouTube videos often go viral on social media runs Drishti IAS, an organization active in the civil services preparation since 1999. Vikas began his professional career as an assistant professor at Delhi University. In 1996, he cleared the Civil Services Examination in his first attempt and worked for a year at the Ministry of Home Affairs. However, he resigned from his post, returned to teaching, and established Drishti IAS.

Other prominent coaching centers which came under the MCD scanner include Vaji Ram and Ravi IAS hub, SriRam IAS Institute in Rajinder Nagar, IAS Gurukul, Chahal Academy, Plutus Academy, Sai Trading, IAS Setu, Topper's Academy, Dainik Samvad, Civils Daily IAS, Career Power, 99 Notes, Vidya Guru, Guidance IAS, and Easy for IAS.

Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) has sealed 20 basements of coaching centers that were illegally being used either as libraries or for providing classes in both Rajendra Nagar and Mukherjee Nagar. The civic body also carried out an anti-encroachment drive in Old Rajindra Nagar to demolish structures that were covering the storm drains that led to flooding in the area.

"It has been brought to my notice that the basement of the single unit local shopping center, Vardhman Mall, Nehru Vihar, (combined Basement of Tower 1, 2 and 3) is being used for a coaching center, teaching center, institutes in the name and style as Dristi (The Vision) the instance of owner and occupier in violation of clause 15.9 of MPD-2021," read the notice pasted at the entrance of many coaching centers in Mukherjee Nagar.

After the incident, many civil aspirants staged a protest at Old Rajinder Nagar to demand justice for the three students who drowned in the basement of a coaching center in the west Delhi locality. The students questioned the arrest of Abhishek Gupta, CEO and owner of Rau's IAS Study Circle, along with coordinator Deshpal Singh, and the owner of the basement.

"More students will die if we brush this incident aside. We won't get justice for our fellow students. If we don't fight for our right now, how will we serve the nation in the future? This is sheer negligence on the part of the authorities," said Rahul Sharma, a Civil aspirant from Uttar Pradesh.

Another protesting student said, "The MCD is the biggest culprit. Whenever it rains, the streets are waterlogged and you risk falling into an open manhole or getting an electric shock and dying. Anything can happen."