The basement of the coaching Institute in Old Rajendra Nagar where three civil services aspirants died by rain-induced flooding was functioning illegally as a library, officials said on Sunday.

Rao's IAS Study Circle, the coaching institute, had falsely shown that the basement was being used for parking and as a store room, as per the building plan and No Objection Certificate (NOC) of the fire department.

The three-storey coaching centre had its building plan approved by the concerned MCD department in 2021.

"In the building completion certificate of the institute, it is clearly written that it can only be used for parking and storage in the basement. It means that the library was running illegally in the basement," an MCD official said.

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

MCD commissioner Ashwani Kumar, after taking charge in June, has suspended several officers from the corporation's building department.

Last week, three officers of the department were suspended at the zone where the coaching centre is located.

There was immediate reaction from the commissioner on the reason behind the suspension.

The coaching institute made a similar disclosure to the fire department about the basement, thus also violating its norms, according to Delhi Fire Services chief Atul Garg.

Garg said, "The building has fire NOC, but in the NOC they had shown the basement as a store room. The management of the institute was using the same room as a classroom or library which is a violation of the NOC."

He further said that there was no option to de-water the basement.

Locals complained that there are several other coaching institutions in the area which operate from the basement.

Delhi Mayor Shelly Oberoi has issued directions to take strict action coaching institutes found flouting the building bye-laws and ascertain if any MCD officer is responsible for the incident.

The bodies of two female students and a male student were retrieved from the site during the rescue operation, which was also conducted by the NDRF, police and fire department.  -- PTI