- 5 hours ago
On this Special Report, host Sonal Mehrotra Kapoor examines the death of Yuvraj, a software professional who drowned after his vehicle plunged into an unmarked construction pit in Noida Sector 150. The investigation highlights a 90-minute rescue delay and questions the Noida Authority regarding the absence of barricades despite an 8,732 crore budget. Former Urban Development Secretary Sudhir Krishna discusses the lack of SDRF preparedness. The program also covers the CBI questioning of TVK chief Vijay concerning the Karur stampede, focusing on event delays and organizational violations. Vijay denies legal breaches, attributing the incident to police lapses. Further reports address India's pollution crisis as Danish shuttler Mia Blichfeldt withdraws from the India Open due to Delhi's air quality. The broadcast concludes with the Indian cricket team's ODI series loss to New Zealand and a health emergency in Madhya Pradesh, where contaminated water is linked to a Guillain-Barre Syndrome outbreak, prompting a World Health Organization probe into local public health failures.
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00:0027-year-old techie killed in Noida.
00:11Negligence drowned Yuvraj in a death trap.
00:23Fought for life but got no help in time.
00:30Trapped through 90 minutes of horror.
00:46A young man falls prey to urban apathy.
00:50A life lost. Who is accountable?
01:02Noida Techie's death.
01:12That is our top focus on 5 Live.
01:14That is indeed our top focus here on 5 Live.
01:24Now this could have been you and me.
01:27Anybody who lives around in Delhi NCR or perhaps more so in Noida, Great Noida etc.
01:33We could be driving back home in the thick of the night, in the thick of the fog as well.
01:38But expecting to land in a ditch and losing your life?
01:43Well that's what happened with Yuvraj.
01:45Let's tell you in detail.
01:47It was a winter night in Gritanoida.
01:49There was grand fog, near zero visibility, an empty stretch of road in sector 150.
01:57A 27-year-old software professional was driving back home.
02:00What he could not see was a deep construction pit filled with water dug right next to the road and no barricades, no reflectors, no warning lights.
02:12Nothing to suggest that the road ahead could turn fatal in seconds.
02:17His car then plunged straight in.
02:21He managed to get out of the vehicle.
02:23That part matters, remember, because this was not instant death.
02:26He called his family.
02:28He cried for help.
02:29He used his phone torch to signal anyone who might be passing by.
02:33For nearly 90 minutes, he waited in that water, clinging on to dear life.
02:41But help did not come in time.
02:44When rescue teams finally pulled him out, it was too late.
02:48The post-mortem letter would confirm drowning followed by a cardiac arrest.
02:54His father said this.
03:00After coming, they were not meaningful.
03:03They had limited resources.
03:05They were staying from the road and they couldn't go there.
03:10Then they had to adopt an alternative option.
03:13They had to use a boat.
03:15They had to use a swimmer or a diver.
03:18They had to reach my son.
03:20He was able to get his knowledge.
03:22At 6 o'clock, the boat was prepared for recovery.
03:26At 6 o'clock, the boat was prepared for recovery.
03:27At 6 o'clock in the morning.
03:28Why didn't they go inside?
03:29Why didn't they go inside?
03:30He said that there is a lot of cars.
03:33There is a lot of cars.
03:34There is a lot of cars.
03:35There is a lot of cars.
03:36We cannot go there.
03:37We can do damage.
03:40Alright, so you heard that man over there.
03:42What is he saying?
03:43That around midnight is when he got the call.
03:46And finally his body, Yuvraj's body was pulled out at 4 in the morning.
03:52In fact, much later.
03:536 o'clock is when they made the boat at least.
03:55The body came out much later.
03:57We were expecting that till about 4 o'clock, 5 o'clock in the morning he was actually alive.
04:02This is the peculiar story, it raises so many questions.
04:05Yuvaraj could have been you and me returning from home,
04:08but the shorting part here is that it's not just a story of crumbling infrastructure,
04:14but the fact that none of the emergency services which did land there to help him
04:22were equipped to help.
04:24Not the police, not the fire department, not even the NDRF.
04:32The police, the SDRF, the fire brigade, the fire department,
04:47the fire department, the fire department,
04:50the fire department.
04:52This death of the government is the government.
04:58foreign
05:11foreign
05:21So who was that man you heard? Called an eyewitness there. Well, he is a civilian. He's a delivery boy who actually did jump in and tried to help.
05:44It was too late perhaps by then, but he jumped in where others and emergency services who were trained to handle these situations simply did not.
05:54So who allowed this to happen really? This was not an accident. It was a negligence basically playing out in real time.
06:01The agency responsible here, well, let's call them out. It's the Noida Authority.
06:06From 25 to 26, it has cleared the budget of 8,732 crore just in this Noida city.
06:14Last year alone, 2,229 crore was allocated for maintenance and 2,400 crore for development, besides hundreds of crores for land acquisition, rural development, office expenses, all of that.
06:25And yet, public roads had an open water-filled pit with no barricades, no lights, no warnings at all.
06:33The authority has also admitted it failed to spend a large amount of money last year from its budget as per norms, carrying it forward into the next year.
06:42They did not spend the money only. They had the kitty, did not spend it, which makes the question pretty unavoidable.
06:47With thousands of crores in books, why was basic safety missing?
06:52Who approved the site without safeguards?
06:55Who ignored resident warnings?
06:57And why did rescue fail when a man was alive and calling out for help?
07:01Cutting down a junior engineer is not accountability, which has happened in this case.
07:06They have suspended a junior engineer in this case. God knows how is that going to help or change anything.
07:12This is what happens when money moves faster than responsibility.
07:15Budgets make promises.
07:17Roads expose failure.
07:19And in Noida, the cost of that failure is life of this young man.
07:25Joining us for more on this is somebody who is also very familiar with this story.
07:32RJ Gini has been talking about it on her show all day long.
07:35Joins us now also with me, Sudhir Krishna, former Secretary of Urban Development, Government of India, joining us as well.
07:43Sudhir, I just want to start by asking you, there are lots of questions here.
07:48The fact that that entire wall preventing fall from the pit had been broken just a couple of weeks ago.
07:57Because the residents there say that there was a bus which managed to ramp in and that is why the outlet was open.
08:05That bridge was open, which is why his car went in.
08:09They are suspecting that's how it has happened.
08:10Nobody really knows because, of course, we don't have CCTV cameras to, you know, look at things at all.
08:16Then there is the question of the father actually reaching there in 40 minutes, calling everybody possible, but nobody being equipped.
08:24So I don't even know where to begin when it comes to fixing accountability in this case.
08:32Well, I think, Sonan Jifastav, thank you very much for inviting me because it's a very important situation for the whole country.
08:40And I think we are not learning lessons, but at least today we should decide to learn the lesson.
08:46The first thing about accountability you mentioned, without doubt, accountability will lie on the chief executive officer of the NOIDA.
08:55There is no point in suspending the junior engineer and so on, straight away.
08:58And straight away, the very first thing is, when something of this kind happens, it shows, because this is the only one spot.
09:06There may be many other spots in NOIDA.
09:09Waiting, waiting for tragedies to happen.
09:10It's one of the other kind of, you know, danger lying there.
09:13And, you see, there is no dearth of resources.
09:17You have yourself said that NOIDA authority, a lot of fund they are not spending.
09:20And, actually speaking, putting the stickers, putting the reflecting tape, it will cost a few thousand rupees only if they want to put for the whole of the NOIDA.
09:29It may cost maybe a lakh or two lakh of rupees for the whole of NOIDA.
09:33Because sticker tape, reflecting tapes are there.
09:35So, money is not the issue.
09:37The issue is that we are not concerned, apparently, and by and by losing, you know, interest about the citizen in general.
09:43The glitter of creating new projects, constructing new things, sanctioning new things, laying foundation stones, going to media with Twitter and, you know, Facebook messages, is so much that the fundamental human value is being lost.
09:57So, I would recommend straight away that the NOIDA authority, chief executive officer, should be placed under suspension.
10:03Number one.
10:04And number two, all cities in the country, because the problem is rural area, no less.
10:09And we don't discuss much about rural areas.
10:13They are also suffering a lot like this situation.
10:15But let us talk about cities for the while.
10:18That all cities should be asked, the chief executive officer, municipal commissioners or development authority, you know, whosoever is the head, should be asked to give a certificate that all deflectors are in position.
10:30All, you see, the danger points are being identified because there are manuals.
10:33The Indian Road Congress has got code manuals on one hand for signages, on other hand for the safety audit of roads.
10:41I get that.
10:42There is one, the entire issue of roads, and you are absolutely right, Mr. Krishna, that this is just one of the many that have perhaps been, you know, put under question because of this.
10:52But let me bring in Ginny on this one.
10:54Ginny, what's really shocking me about this entire incident is perhaps not the apathy or perhaps the lack of work done by NOIDA authority, which is just sitting on a pile of cash and not doing anything.
11:05But on the absolute unpreparedness of even, you know, situations like SDRF, even the fire department, even the police, they had six to, you know, five to six hours to rescue him and they could not.
11:21They said, in the morning, I spoke to this guy, Muninder, who was the only brave person.
11:27And he said that there were almost 70 people out there from various authorities, which included the fire department, the police, the national disaster authorities.
11:38And none of them, none of them had even basic lights that could shear through the fog.
11:44I cannot make sense of this at all.
11:47They could not see where that boy was.
11:50They could just see his camera light flashing a little bit.
11:53They could hear his voice.
11:54They did not have basic light.
11:57So first that.
11:58Second, how is our teams which are equipped for this telling us that this is a pit which has sariya and therefore we are not willing to risk our life?
12:10You know, a common man saying that I get it, but teams that are supposed to do this cannot say this.
12:15Again, I was talking to Muninder in the morning and he said that out of the police that was there, a majority of them didn't know how to swim.
12:23So then how were they going to help?
12:25They would not be able to help.
12:28I mean, it raises questions at so many levels.
12:32It's just not funny.
12:32But the saddest point is that there's this boy who's drowning.
12:37There's his father.
12:37Right, we'll just go to Guinea in just a minute.
12:47But Mr. Krishna, you heard that, right?
12:49The authorities just not being prepared to help.
12:52I mean, it's just appalling.
12:54If I am in an emergency situation, A, I get caught up because the authorities were not doing their job.
12:59That's why I'm in that pit.
13:01B, once I'm there, my family manages to find me.
13:04They manage to call everybody possible from police to fire department to even the, you know, the disaster management team.
13:11And none of them know what to do.
13:13That's just, that's just crazy.
13:16Absolutely.
13:17So therefore, the lesson is, you see, the thing is, as I was telling earlier, that this is happening in one place.
13:22The person who lost his life, at least, that cannot come back.
13:26But at least country should benefit, get some benefit.
13:29Other life should be saved.
13:30So therefore, one certificate should be taken from all municipal commissioners that their roads are safe, number one.
13:36Number two, here the SDRF, they should hang their head in shame.
13:40Because if they cannot save one person with 50 people around, 50 of their, you know, staff around, and they do not have the torch which can see through the fog,
13:50if they do not have the swimmers, if they do not have the wherewithal, then what is the disaster relief force for?
13:55So I think a lot of drama is going on in the name of, you know, all these things.
14:00Straight away, the head of the SDRF should also be, you know, taken to task.
14:03And because, you know, then only people will wake.
14:05Because if you suspend junior engineer or the police constable and so on, nothing will happen.
14:10Because that man is, you know, he is just, he is not responsible for many things.
14:14So therefore, I think it is right time.
14:17That exemplary action is taken which will alert the system.
14:20Otherwise, you know, it will become...
14:21So Mr. Krishna is clearly not mincing his words.
14:23He is saying all those responsible, starting with the CEO of Noida Authority, to SDRF, to police, and to fire department,
14:30they must all answer what happened.
14:31Like we were talking about, eyewitnesses there have said there were some 70 to 80 people there on the spot.
14:37And it took one delivery boy to jump and say that, no, it doesn't matter.
14:42I'll go and save the guy.
14:43And by the time, it was too late.
14:46Ginny?
14:47That is true.
14:48That is true that the delivery boy is the real hero out here, definitely.
14:53But it's such a sad state of affairs.
14:55I also want to know, if this was a politician, would they have had the same amount of reluctance to jump in?
15:05Because it's a common man and a common man's life does not matter in India.
15:10It does not.
15:11Do you know this pit is the basement of a mall, which was dug for so many years.
15:16Today, I had people from Noida, sector 150, saying we've been staying in that sector.
15:20We didn't know that this was the basement of a mall.
15:22We thought it was a pond where ducks come.
15:26This is a pond which has sariya, which has all of those things lying under it.
15:30Nobody's checked.
15:31Sector 150 in Noida is one of the poshest sectors,
15:34where the biggest builders are right now selling flats at crores of rupees.
15:39Why is it that Noida authority is not looking at these basics?
15:43How could a pit be uncovered for such a long time?
15:46This is a case where a truck fell in the same pit four days ago.
15:51And yet, and for that father, you know, we discuss so many news items.
15:56We do so many things.
15:58For that father to know that he stood there for five hours hearing his son scream,
16:02save me, with every single authority that he could have called,
16:08and yet not be able to save his son.
16:11I mean, the authorities need to answer to this man.
16:14Why?
16:16It's a whole life lost for nothing.
16:18It's the most saddest case that I've seen.
16:22And people are now going and protesting on site, etc.
16:25But the builders there are not taking questions.
16:28They're not answering.
16:30So many projects are on in Noida.
16:31Why the builders?
16:32Builders will always have commercial interests in mind, right?
16:37Noida authority has to answer.
16:41Why are they allowing it to happen?
16:42So apparently the builder, we did some digging out and we figured out that the builder had to pay some money.
16:48There were some sanctions which were pending, which is why construction was stopped on that site, right?
16:51Exactly.
16:52Even if you stop construction, you've got to cover it.
16:55You've got to figure out next step.
16:56It's been lying like that.
16:57Yeah.
16:57That's just my point.
16:59How can you leave a pit in the middle of the city?
17:02This is not a village.
17:03This is not some sort of a...
17:05This is sector 150 Noida, which is posh.
17:07How can you have an open drain where this man is saying 50 meter tak fireman ki seedhi nahi gai?
17:14Do you realize the enormity of the largeness of that pit?
17:18And we're just...
17:19This is in the middle of the city.
17:21How is this being allowed?
17:23I don't know who all should lose their jobs.
17:25I don't know how many people will lose their jobs.
17:27I don't know if three days later, all of us will remember this story.
17:30But the problem is that what you said at the beginning of the show is true.
17:35We all have to realize it could be any of us.
17:39And any of us, Manji, this is just a man doing his job and coming back home.
17:45Yeah.
17:46No, I get it.
17:47It was a foggy night.
17:48I get it.
17:48I get it that it was...
17:51So not with the national disaster theme standing there.
17:54It's foggy for you and me.
17:56We can't help.
17:57They can't turn around and say it was foggy.
17:59So our lights didn't work.
18:01Our systems didn't work.
18:02We didn't have the requisite infrastructure.
18:05If they hadn't reached there, I would still give them some credit.
18:08To stand there on the side and watch all of this happen.
18:12The fire, the disaster management, the police.
18:16Come on.
18:18I don't know why.
18:19What is the point of paying taxes?
18:21I don't understand how.
18:22Where is all that taxpayer's money going?
18:24Where is the accountability?
18:25There is no accountability in the system.
18:26Learning has gone into, you know, building a house, building a home, owning a house, owning
18:31a flat in Noida, in, you know, sector 150, barely kilometers away from the national capital,
18:37barely kilometers away from where we are standing.
18:38By the way, which is why I said it could be any of us.
18:41It could be any of us traveling all the way down.
18:43And then not just to land there, to have nobody come out and help.
18:46Just absolute, absolute disaster.
18:49Noida Authority, you're right.
18:50The CEO has a lot of answering to do, along with what the Fire Department, Police and
18:54SDRF did as well.
18:55I have to thank you both for the moment for joining us and we'll stay tuned on the story.
19:02All right, cutting across to some breaking news coming in.
19:05Vijay's second round of grilling has ended.
19:07CBI has questioned Vijay for over six hours in the Karoor Stampede case now.
19:11He waved at his fans before leaving the CBI headquarters.
19:13He also disclosed rumors against Vijay.
19:17TVK actually did that and also Vijay came just for the probe, is what the party is saying.
19:22No summon has been issued again.
19:24We are cooperating in the investigation and we want justice to come to the people.
19:34All right, remember Vijay is in town, is in the national capital today to answer all those
19:38questions by the CBI at the CBI headquarter.
19:41That's his car leaving the CBI headquarter now.
19:44It started at early in the morning.
19:45Some six hours have gone into that questioning and now this is, like we said, round two of
19:52that.
19:52Munish Pandey joins us for more on this.
19:55Munish, what can you tell us more about what happened inside?
20:03Well, Sonal, this was the second day when actor turned politician.
20:07TVK chief Vijay was questioned by the Central Bureau of Investigation in connection with
20:11the Karur Stampede case.
20:13Today's questioning was for almost six hours and what we have been given to understand
20:17is that he was confronted with some documentary evidence which was not only the video footage
20:22of that particular event where he was seen throwing water bottle when the crowd was painting,
20:29but also there were some documentary evidence and statements which were earlier recorded by
20:33the Central Bureau of Investigation.
20:35Sonal, as far as CBI's line of questioning is concerned, it was mostly focused on why
20:41there was a delay of almost seven hours by TVK chief Vijay on that day because of which
20:46the crowd swelled, you know, from 10 a.m. till 7 p.m.
20:50There was a crowd of almost 25,000 to 30,000.
20:54Also, he was questioned on the lines that there was violation from the organizers, which is
20:59the TVK party leaders.
21:01There was violation by them.
21:03So on these lines, the statements have been recorded.
21:06We have been given to understand is that so far, no more summons have been sent by the CBI.
21:12He has not been asked to appear before the CBI for questioning once again.
21:16So it appears to, you know, it appears to us that his questioning by the CBI in connection
21:24with this case is over.
21:25Apart from Vijay, there are at least five TVK functionaries who have been earlier questioned
21:30by the Central Bureau of Investigation.
21:33There are at least six officers from Tamil Nadu police who have been questioned by the CBI.
21:38And there are two individuals, you know, the key individuals who might be called
21:46again by the CBI for questioning in this case.
21:48And later on, the CBI will file a charge sheet that who exactly was responsible, you know,
21:55for Karur's stampede.
21:56But as far as Vijay is concerned, he has alleged that he has not violated any of the agreement
22:05or any law.
22:06It was Tamil Nadu police's responsibility and they failed to discharge their duty.
22:12That is why this stampede happened.
22:13Sona.
22:14All right, Manish, we'll leave it there for the moment.
22:16Clearly not the last we've heard on the story.
22:17We'll come back to you as and when the story progresses.
22:19For the moment, let's move on to the other big news that we are tracking.
22:24Pollution no longer an issue limited to the capital or even India.
22:28With the air quality making it near impossible for athletes to continue playing in India,
22:32it's a matter of global scrutiny now.
22:35Pollution is shattering the Kelo India dream.
22:38After the Danish badminton player pulled out of the Indian Open for the third consecutive year,
22:45Denmark's player Mia Bichfield, the world number three shuttler, has also refused to play in India.
22:52She slammed pollution, hygiene and environmental conditions at the venue.
22:57She has instead chosen to pay a 45 lakh rupee fine just to avoid exposing her body to Delhi's air.
23:05Now, the Danish player hasn't, you know, is already one of the ones that the badminton isn't the only sport as well that's suffering.
23:13Guess what happened next over the weekend?
23:15Indian chess grandmaster, Vedit Gujarati, has raised concerns about the worsening air quality in Delhi,
23:22writing that people are slowly being poisoned in Delhi, but nobody seems to care.
23:28He has also questioned why solving the pollution issue is not a priority of the government at all.
23:33Now, instead of acknowledging the concern, officials and former players have now chosen to deflect criticism.
23:39This has raised serious questions about India's preparedness to host global sporting events, remember.
23:45From smog hit cricket matches to past organizational failures,
23:50this controversy exposes deeper cracks in India's sporting ecosystem.
23:55As India prepares to host the world championships like BWF, dreams of Olympics, there is the Commonwealth Games,
24:04accountability and questions are, of course, being asked.
24:08But is India really doing something about it?
24:11And how exactly is it impacting our image in the global arena?
24:15Nikhil Nas, my colleague, is here with us.
24:17Nikhil, we've spoken about this at length.
24:19We earlier thought it was the case of cricket, but now there is badminton.
24:24And, of course, we don't even go into the arrangements that happened and the pigeon poop that was found on that badminton court.
24:31But also chess players now saying that, listen, this is going to impact everybody.
24:35How are we going to, you know, live up to our Khelo India dream, CWG Olympics, if this is the reality?
24:41Well, you're absolutely right with that.
24:43But Sonal, and you know what, it is not an issue that you're highlighting just this year.
24:47Just a little while earlier in your story, you had mentioned that Danish players have not been coming here for three years in a row.
24:54Has that been a deterrent?
24:55Has that resulted in the government acting?
24:58Listen, we live in times where we are very sensitive about how our country is perceived in the rest of the world.
25:05And then we have a situation where players do point out these major concerns when they come.
25:10And let me tell you, quite honestly, I've been to a lot of those stadiums and their concerns are very genuine.
25:16The reason that they don't want to risk and have any long-term health implications are very genuine.
25:22But you know how most of us react on two counts.
25:25One, I think if the authorities were very serious about, you know, India, India's image,
25:31and those authorities can be at a sporting level or at a central government level,
25:34I'm sure they would have moved something in the last three years.
25:37Unfortunately, that hasn't happened.
25:39And the other reaction that I quite often see, and that is mostly amongst fans,
25:45and they come out in defense of the country saying that, listen, if you don't like playing in India,
25:49then why do you, you know, even bother coming here?
25:51I don't think that's the solution.
25:53I think you need to find a solution to ensure that this is a viable country for the rest of the world to come and participate in.
25:59And let's not just limit it to international athletes.
26:02Let me give an example.
26:02If you're staying anywhere in North India, it's not just restricted to New Delhi alone,
26:08anywhere in North India, to an extent even in Eastern India, if you are a budding sports person,
26:13six months of a year you can't be playing.
26:15And I speak to a lot of coaches that are not coaching at the international level,
26:19but at a domestic level, let's say, you know, kids at a school level or at a district level.
26:24Most of the parents will not send their kids to come out of practice for four months in the winter months.
26:29Then you have the peak summers where they just cannot, it's not physically possible for you to practice.
26:34Any child who doesn't practice for six months in a year in a competitive environment cannot end up being a sports person.
26:40So it's a larger issue that needs to be dealt with.
26:43But unfortunately, we've not seen the needle move in the last five years or so.
26:46Is it because, Nikhil, that Indian players are perhaps not speaking up enough?
26:50The only Indian player we've had is the chess tournament, actually.
26:53They're the ones who can actually afford to sit inside a, you know, air-purified room and play the chess properly.
27:00But apart from that, is it because Indian players are not speaking up?
27:04That is a fact. I must admit, that's a fact.
27:06We've had few players speak about it.
27:09I remember in a recent match in cricket, you had Hardik Pandya, who was wearing a mask before the game was to start.
27:17And he had to then endure a lot of trolling on social media.
27:20Because any time you put on an image which, you know, is detrimental to that of the country,
27:27players come under scrutiny.
27:29They have to face a lot of hate on social media.
27:32So then players avoid that.
27:33And secondly, I think it is also against the grain of a lot of Indian sportsmen,
27:38just how sports is run, to be speaking against the authorities.
27:42Remember, they're at the mercy of those authorities to be selected to be playing for the country.
27:46I think those things in place, you often do see players not speaking enough about the pollution issue.
27:52Yes, they, on occasion, will talk about administrative issues, but not so much about pollution issues,
27:57which I think is a very serious concern.
27:58That's absolutely right.
28:00And may I point out, Hardik Pandya did wear a mask, but he was wearing the wrong mask.
28:03You don't wear those masks for pollution.
28:05You need an N95 or N99.
28:06So perhaps some trolling should have happened on that, of not knowing or the rest of the stuff that happened.
28:12But stay on with us, Nikhil.
28:13We've got more sports stories lined up, and we want to discuss that with you.
28:17So on Sunday evening, the Indian cricket team lost the third in the final ODI against New Zealand,
28:22and with it, the series as well.
28:24The team is back in its Gambhir situation, and it's not a problem limited to Tess anymore.
28:29The ODI series loss has now triggered a massive reaction from cricket fans on social media,
28:35and at the centre of the storm sits the man, the very Gambhir man, Gautam Gambhir.
28:40Gautam Gambhir's tenure as head coach of the Indian team has been a turbulent one, to say the least.
28:45Under him, India has lost three ODI series, two away from home against Sri Lanka in Australia,
28:50and now, with the loss against New Zealand as well, we've been defeated in ODIs on home soil for the first time in three years.
28:57With the triumph in the Champions Trophy in 2025, there is less pressure on Gambhir when it comes to the white ball cricket.
29:05But now, with questions surfacing again, after the disappointing loss against New Zealand,
29:09and the 2027 ODI World Cup not too far away,
29:13will the Gambhir situation as India's head coach across formats really find a solution?
29:19Nikhil Nas, we've been debating this time and again.
29:23Is it a Gambhir situation, according to you,
29:25or is it time to acknowledge that the big wigs of the game have exited, you know, the red ball cricket,
29:32and that's why we are here?
29:33It might not be because of Gautam Gambhir.
29:36Well, I tell you what, Sonal, just to answer your first question,
29:38it definitely is a Gambhir situation.
29:39Let me put that into perspective.
29:41For a lot of people, it might just be one ODI match, a bilateral match that you've lost.
29:46But I'll give you three pointers that will actually tell you how serious the situation Indian cricket find themselves in.
29:52This, in fact, is the very first time India lost an ODI match in Indore's Holkar Stadium.
29:58They'd never lost a single match, let alone a series.
30:00This was for the very first time that New Zealand have won a bilateral series in India, a bilateral ODI series.
30:08New Zealand have been coming to India since 1988.
30:101988, in 2026 is the first time they've won a bilateral ODI series in India.
30:16Can you imagine what a proud record India has?
30:18That, unfortunately, has come to an end yesterday after that game.
30:22And just to add on to that, in the last one decade,
30:26India have only lost a bilateral ODI series at home to a country called Australia.
30:31Australia, we know, are quite a force to reckon with in international cricket.
30:35So, Australia has been the only team that had beaten India in the last one decade in a bilateral ODI series at home.
30:41The only other team now that is not called Australia that's done it, that's New Zealand.
30:45So, put all those things together and you realise the gravity of the situation.
30:49Now, to what the problem is with Indian cricket, there could be multiple issues.
30:53You talk about the coaching, there could be selections, that could be a problem.
30:57There could be forms of certain players, that could be a problem.
30:59And without getting into the nitty-gritties, the biggest problem is,
31:03and I want to ask this to the Board of Control for Cricket in India, BCCI, what are they doing?
31:08You just flashed a lot of stats there on your screen.
31:10Because the last time we were talking, Sonal, that was of India losing a test match series.
31:15Now you've lost an ODI series.
31:17You've lost two ODI bilateral series in the last three you've played.
31:21My question is, since that test match loss that we spoke about,
31:25there's not been a single meeting of the BCCI to address what the problem is.
31:28I'm saying that maybe it'll take time to reach to the bottom of the issue and find what the problem is.
31:34There's not been a single meeting.
31:35You've lost these two ODI series, bilateral ODI series, not as important as the test series yet.
31:41As I said, this has been unprecedented yet.
31:43There has been no word from the BCCI that they want to address an issue.
31:47I'll give you a parallel.
31:49England lost to Australia in the Ashes very recently.
31:52On the day they lost that final test match,
31:55English cricket board sent out a statement,
31:56this is a problem, we are going to speak to the coach,
31:59we are going to speak to the stakeholders,
32:00we are going to speak to the captain.
32:02We need to find and get to the bottom of the issue.
32:05From the BCCI we've not heard anything.
32:07I do see a lot of BCCI officials in every game.
32:09You're talking about the game last evening,
32:11I saw all the BCCI officials sitting in the VIP box,
32:15enjoying that game of cricket.
32:16Do they not acknowledge the problem or do they not have solutions?
32:19Which is the problem?
32:20Do they not acknowledge the problem or do they not have solutions?
32:24See, I'm not asking them to come up with solutions.
32:27They are administrators at the end of the day.
32:29But their point is to get the stakeholders together
32:31and ask the question that you and I are asking.
32:34You and I have never played test cricket, right?
32:36But if there is an issue, you ask me that particular question,
32:40I will ask the experts,
32:41why is it that we lost this ODI series?
32:44Why is such a such player who is doing very well in domestic cricket
32:47not part of your team?
32:49Why is it that you have had such rotations
32:51and this player was rested at a certain point and this not played?
32:54Why is it that in a given game you decided to win the toss and do this?
32:58These are simple questions that the administrators need to ask
33:01and then get to the bottom of the issue.
33:03Who do you need to call?
33:04You need to call the selectors,
33:05you need to call the coach,
33:07you need to call the captain
33:08and then after a lot of conversation,
33:10get down to what the crux of the matter is.
33:13I'll give an example.
33:14You had a situation in last year,
33:16you lost in Australia,
33:18there was a review meeting,
33:19you came out with these strict sort of rules for players.
33:23So players weren't allowed to take their families
33:25for a certain amount of days on tours.
33:27Players like Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma
33:29were asked to have to play domestic cricket.
33:31Certain players were dropped.
33:32Why?
33:32Because there seemed to be leaking news from inside the team
33:35because you thought that was detrimental to the team.
33:3712 months down the line,
33:38your results have even gotten worse,
33:39but you haven't addressed the issue.
33:41So when it comes to certain players that you want to target,
33:43you're quick to pounce upon them
33:45and then take these steps.
33:46When it is larger questions that need to be asked
33:48from the management or the selection,
33:51I'm afraid the BCCI is absent there.
33:53And I think that is the big issue.
33:55BCCI, not speaking here,
33:56but another situation where ICC is speaking a lot,
33:59which is the situation of the ultimatum
34:01that Bangladesh has got from the ICC board as well, right?
34:04Talk to us a little bit about that.
34:05Why is that happening?
34:07That, I'm afraid, is a very serious situation
34:10that international cricket finds itself in.
34:12Just to break it down to our viewers,
34:15you've had situations in the past
34:17where countries have refused to play in a World Cup
34:20in a particular host nation.
34:22But the worst that you've had is
34:24that they don't play that one particular game.
34:26They forfeit the points.
34:28It's never had a major repercussion
34:30or a major dent to the tournament per se
34:33because a lot of those teams like Australia,
34:35like West Indies, like England,
34:37who have opted out to certain games
34:38in either Sri Lanka or Zimbabwe in the past,
34:40they've gone on to play the tournament,
34:43maybe even reach semifinals and finals
34:45and so on and so forth.
34:46This is for the very first time,
34:48there is a serious threat
34:50of a team being completely removed from the tournament.
34:53Where we are at the moment,
34:55Bangladesh is saying,
34:56nothing doing,
34:57we're not coming to India and playing.
34:59ICC is saying,
35:00nothing doing,
35:01you let us know by Wednesday,
35:03if you can't find a solution,
35:04we are not ready to swap your groups,
35:06we are not ready to put you in a neutral venue,
35:08we are going to get the next ranked team,
35:11which is Scotland,
35:12which, by the way,
35:13hasn't qualified for the T20 World Cup,
35:15hasn't been prepping.
35:15Most teams have been prepping for that tournament
35:17for a year, year and a half.
35:18The tournament starts in less than a month's time.
35:21Scotland would be told at the 11th hour,
35:23you're in and Bangladesh,
35:25you're out.
35:25That, I'm afraid,
35:26could be a serious situation.
35:28And I'll tell you why I'm saying that.
35:29One,
35:30to have our team being removed,
35:32and secondly,
35:33we're just hearing from Pakistan,
35:34it was reported widely in Pakistani media,
35:36because remember,
35:37India and Pakistan have been at loggerheads.
35:39Pakistan is using this opportunity,
35:41and their government
35:42has let this information out in their media,
35:45that if Bangladesh is removed,
35:47we will also review our situation
35:48of participating in the tournament.
35:49Wow, so this is just snowballing.
35:50This is just snowballing,
35:52this is not the last we've heard,
35:53and this is just going out of hand.
35:54So let's see how this goes,
35:55Nikhil,
35:56just leaving it there for positive time over there.
35:58Now,
35:58dirty water is once again turning deadly
36:00in Madhya Pradesh,
36:01weeks after contaminated water
36:03claimed 15 lives in Indore.
36:04A fresh outbreak
36:05that has triggered an alarm.
36:07Julian Bari syndrome,
36:09GBS as it's called,
36:10is surfaced in the areas
36:12that are killing at least two people,
36:14two children in fact.
36:1513 new cases have been reported,
36:17prompting the WHO probe
36:18into yet another public health failure.
36:21Here's what happened.
36:40Dirty water is wreaking havoc
36:42in Madhya Pradesh once again.
36:45Weeks after,
36:48filthy water killed 15 in Indore city,
36:52shattering all misconceptions
36:54around it being the cleanest city in India.
36:59Another outbreak has put Madhya Pradesh to shame.
37:04The deadly GBS,
37:05Gyan Bari syndrome,
37:07has raised its ugly head,
37:08this time in Mansour
37:10and Neemach in the state.
37:12Two children have died,
37:13raising a big scare.
37:1513 new cases have been reported.
37:17Ch ьЭ╕я┐╜ore and Neemach in the state.
37:18I first understood something,
37:20I was trapped in the boat,
37:22in the water,
37:22I was covered in the back,
37:23and then I came to my hand,
37:24and I was wounded in the back,
37:24and the breath put on.
37:27What was the answer?
37:28What was that?
37:28It was the time that I didn't go
37:31and I knew that I was impressed
37:32in that case.
37:32And then,
37:34we canceled to Ahmedabad and came back.
37:36And then,
37:37the treatment came back
37:38for 12 hours.
37:40But,
37:42So what is GBS?
37:49This is a rare neurological disorder
37:51where the immune system attacks the nerves
37:54causing muscle weakness, tingling and sometimes paralysis.
37:58The infection linked to poor sanitation.
38:03GBS is also referred to as Gyaanbare syndrome.
38:07The neurological word for this disease is
38:09acute inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy.
38:13It's a fancy word, but what really happens in these patients is
38:17there's acute, that means a sudden onset of the peripheral nerves,
38:21the nerves of your legs, your arms demyelinating.
38:25So they start losing their myelin, so the nerves stop working.
38:29So the patient will usually present with paralysis.
38:33The paralysis starts off from the legs and spreads upwards.
38:36And once the disease involves the diaphragm and the respiratory muscles,
38:41the muscles which help us to breathe, the intercostal muscles,
38:44these patients will not be able to breathe on their own.
38:47So they will need ventilatory support.
38:49You will have to put them on a ventilator.
38:51GBS has been linked to a bacteria called Campylobacter jejuni.
38:54I want to emphasize here that GBS in neurology is treated as a neurological emergency.
39:02It can prove to be fatal.
39:04So whenever we have a patient who presents with GBS,
39:09what we usually do is we admit them to the neuro ICU.
39:13These patients will require very good intensive care.
39:16A clustering of GBS cases usually shows some sort of a trigger linked to sanitation.
39:27And that's the reason why this cluster is being studied deeply
39:31by a team of the World Health Organization
39:33and the Integrated Disease Surveillance Program.
39:36Now they are going to give reasons for this outbreak,
39:38but it is indicated that it could perhaps be linked to dirty water yet again.
39:46This is another addition to Madhya Pradesh's Hall of Shame.
39:51Speaking volumes, a reflection of poor governance,
39:55poor focus on public health issues
39:58and the inability of the administration to prevent deaths
40:01and infections from these absolutely preventable causes.
40:06In New Delhi's Neha Mordani for India Today Television.
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