People paying price for unsafe construction: Rahul on coaching centre incident

New Delhi: Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi on Sunday condoled the death of three IAS aspirants due to waterlogging in the basement of a building here, and said common people are paying the price for unsafe construction, poor town planning and irresponsibility of institutions at every level.

The three civil services aspirants died after the basement of the building housing a coaching centre in central Delhi's Old Rajinder Nagar area was flooded following heavy rain, officials said.

In a post in Hindi on X, Gandhi said, "The death of students preparing for competitive exams due to waterlogging in the basement of a building in Delhi is very unfortunate. A few days ago, a student died due to electric shock during the rains." He expressed heartfelt condolences to the bereaved families.

"This collapse of infrastructure is a combined failure of the system. The common citizen is paying the price of unsafe construction, poor town planning and irresponsibility of institutions at every level by losing his life," the former Congress chief said.

A safe and comfortable life is the right of every citizen and the responsibility of governments, Gandhi asserted.

The Delhi Police on Sunday detained the owner and coordinator of the coaching centre where three students died due to flooding following heavy rains, officials said.

Police have booked them under charges of culpable homicide among others, they said.