He survived the Saturday tragedy at the coaching centre in Delhi but 21-year-old Rishabh Pal says he will forever feel guilty for not being able to save his fellow students including Tanya Soni who had spurred him not to give up hope when he feared that their end was near.
Rishabh, a resident of Ghaziabad, was among the 25-30 students who were trapped in the basement of the building on the July 27 evening, where Tanya, Shreya Yadav and Nevin Dalvin died due to flooding following rain.
"We were in the library when the water started entering the building. About 10 to 12 students, who were near the gate, managed to rush out but about 10-15 of us got trapped due to the heavy flow of the water on the stairs," Rishabh, a civil services aspirant from batch M33 at Rau's IAS Study Circle that started in June, told PTI.
Rishabh said they had lost hope and thought all of them would die.
"But Tanya, who was my batchmate, said there was no need to panic and we would be saved. She also said: 'Let's form a human chain'. We tried forming the chain but due to the flow of water we could not hold on," he said.
"The water kept gushing in, Tanya and Shreya stood on a table. I somehow mustered courage and started climbing the stairs. Halfway along the stairs, a housekeeping staff extended his hand towards me and pulled me up," Rishabh said.
"Behind me, my friend Jaideep and a few others came out. Then, the staff members of our institute brought a rope to pull the others who were stuck in the water," he said.
Rishabh said Tanya and Shreya might not have moved towards the stairs as they may have been scared of the intensity of the water gushing inside.
"I don't know about Nevin as I did not notice him in the library. He might have been in the toilet at that point in time," he said.
He said they had very little time to react as within 5-10 seconds, they were in knee-deep water and things took a turn for the worse after that.
"Nakul came out last and informed us that two more girls (Tanya and Shreya) were still there. In just three to four minutes, the over 13-ft-high library was filled with water," he said.
Rishabh lives with his parents in Uttar Pradesh's Ghaziabad. He has paid Rs 1.75 lakh for his one-year course at the institute. His father is employed in a private company while his elder brother works in an IT company in Noida.
He said all the staff members helped in rescuing the trapped students.
"Each staff member, including the uncle in the library, helped us in saving the lives of the students. Had they not acted swiftly, the number of causalities would have been more," he said.
Rishabh said there was no biometric lock system in the basement of the building.
"I want to clarify that there was no biometric system in the basement or any part of the building," he said, adding there were two entry and exit points from the basement.
He also alleged a delay in response by the administration.
"The NDRF officials who came at about 10 pm told us that they could not do anything as they did not have any equipment," he claimed.
"Maybe the basement of the institute was illegally constructed but all the faculty members who were present in the building helped us in the rescue," he said.
As he was struggling to come out, Rishabh was injured by the shards of broken glass in the library. He was given first aid and taken to Ganga Ram Hospital for further treatment.
Rishabh said that he wishes for early justice for the victims and punishment for those responsible for the tragedy.
At the same, he said that he and other fellow students of the institute should not be affected as they have paid hefty fees for coaching.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)