Student suicide at IIT Delhi campus, Gurugram's urban mess

Name: Student suicide at IIT Delhi campus, Gurugram's urban mess
Uploaded: 2026-08-25T17:48:29+00:00
Duration: 55 min 20 s
Channel: India Today

00:00Good evening, hello and welcome. You're with the news today, your prime time destination.

00:04Tuesday night, news, newsmakers, talking points. We have plenty packed on the show tonight.

00:09We'll be telling you why students are agitating in India's premier IIT, IIT Delhi.

00:15Another campus suicide has rocked an IIT. What's going wrong?

00:20That's what we're going to ask, including students from the campus.

00:24Also, monsoon mayhem has hit the national capital and we'll tell you just why Guru Gram and Delhi are unable

00:35to handle the rain.

00:36So there's plenty, as always, to talk about. But first, as always, it's time for the Nine Headlines at 9

00:44to 9.

00:46Students' protests in Delhi's IIT intensify over the campus death by suicide.

00:54Protesters demand the dean's resignation. IIT Delhi forms an external panel to probe the student's death.

01:06After Raksha Bandhan ad controversy, Rahul Gandhi backs actor Kriti Sanon, says what a woman wears is her choice.

01:15Actor also speaks out, says culture and tradition are in hearts, not in a necklace.

01:25Rapist and murderer Ram Raheem is out of jail once again.

01:29Dera chief serving life sentence in rape and murder case gets furlough for the 17th time, this time for 21

01:36days.

01:40After Guru Gram, another video from Paul Bakery now in Pune emerges.

01:45Man claims he found a maggot in a food item purchased from the bakery.

01:49Incident again flags hygiene standards, followed by eateries.

01:56Nearly four days after a 16-year-old fell into an open drain in Delhi's Jasola while flying a kite,

02:02the boy's body is found a junior engineer suspended by the Delhi government.

02:10Weeks after conviction, Supreme Court directs author and editor Tharun Tejpal to surrender in three weeks.

02:17Supreme Court to hear Tejpal's plea challenging High Court verdict on 22nd September only after he surrenders.

02:26Why did the Alabad High Court reject a schoolgirl's plea to wear hijab, says hijab not essential to Islamic faith.

02:34High court order sparks a political war.

02:39National Security Advisor Ajit Doval meets Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Beijing.

02:44Discussions focus on maintaining peace and tranquility along the India-China border.

02:51And China vows to protect its interests after the U.S. announces plans to widen economic sanctions against Iran and

02:58its trading partners,

02:59which include Beijing as well.

03:13But the big story that we are breaking right at the very top,

03:16National Security Advisor Ajit Doval has held an important meeting with the Chinese Foreign Minister in Beijing.

03:23The key Doval-Wangi meeting that's taken place in Beijing has discussed India-China border talks

03:31and comes, of course, just ahead of the BRICS summit,

03:35where Chinese President Xi is expected to visit India.

03:39Though China has not yet confirmed his participation in the summit,

03:43officials on both sides are optimistic that the Chinese President will come to India.

03:49His first visit here, since, remember, tensions were there in the border,

03:54and that was in 2020 when there was the Galwan face-off.

04:00Both sides apparently talking about how to renew peace efforts along the border.

04:05Joining me now, Pranay Upadhyay, who tracks external affairs for us.

04:10Pranay, what do we know of this meeting and particularly of its significance

04:14ahead of that big BRICS summit meeting in a couple of weeks?

04:19Absolutely, Razdeep, this is a very important engagement between the SRO special representatives

04:25of India and China.

04:26The meeting took place in Beijing, for which India's NSA Ajit Doval traveled to Beijing.

04:31And in fact, this meeting has come at a very particular time because,

04:35A, after the setting up of the special working mechanism to have an early harvest on boundary

04:41resolution issue, this meeting is important because this was decided in New Delhi during

04:46the visit of Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in August 2025.

04:50Special working mechanism was set up as part of the WMCC and after that this is the first

04:57review meeting of the WMCC process and to review the early harvest procedures.

05:02Besides that, as you also mentioned that the Chinese President Xi Jinping is expected to

05:06visit India for the BRICS summit, which is scheduled in September on the 12th and 13th.

05:13And before that, you know, the preparatory round of engagement are going on between India

05:18and China and for which the National Security Advisor is also having meeting with the Chinese

05:25Foreign Minister Wang Yi as well as he had meeting with the Chinese Vice President Han Jiang.

05:30So in all these terms, this is important.

05:32And besides that, the viewpoint conveyed by the Indian side is that the peace and tranquility

05:37is paramount to be maintained alongside the line of actual control before, you know,

05:43which is paramount for the for the betterment of India-China ties.

05:50Pranay Upadhyay, for joining us with those details on that Doval Wang meeting, appreciate you joining us.

05:56I want to turn to my top focus tonight.

05:58India's IITs are often seen to be the blue chips of Indian technical education.

06:06But in recent times, IITs have been hit by death by suicide.

06:10Several students across IITs in recent years have been found dead on the campus.

06:16The latest was in the national capital, IIT Delhi.

06:20This time, though, the students have decided to take their concerns to the streets.

06:25They held protests at the Delhi IIT campus and are demanding the removal of the dean.

06:31The protests come against the backdrop, remember, of widening student protests across the country on different issues.

06:38But this time, it's the IIT campus which is in turmoil, which is why it is our top story and

06:46our special focus.

06:53These are unusual visuals from IIT Delhi.

06:57A campus known for classrooms, laboratories and academic excellence is now witnessing protests and slogans of justice for Rishikesh.

07:10At the center of the protest is 31-year-old MSC physics student Rishikesh Kumar, who died by suicide on

07:18August 22.

07:21His family has alleged that the administration was alerted about his struggles and that requests for accommodation and academic support

07:30went unanswered.

07:34He said that the staff had a lot of questions that he had told me to give me a hostel,

07:38but he didn't believe that there was no such a child.

07:41There was no such a child who would not get a hostel.

07:43Then, he told me that there was no such a hostel.

07:46But then, he told me that there was no such a hostel.

07:46There was a family quarter in IIT.

07:48There was also a family quarter in the IT.

07:51So, we would also allow that we would also allow that.

07:53But I said, no, we wouldn't get a quarter.

08:03Students are demanding one crore rupees as compensation for Rishikesh's family, resignation

08:10of senior student affairs officials, resignation of the physics department head and an independent

08:16investigation into his death.

08:37They are still not giving us the compensation and we are also demanding the resignation

08:43and they are even not giving us the resignation.

08:46They are insisting upon the investigation and also for the investigation the committee

08:51they have made which is very biased.

08:54IIT Delhi has announced an inquiry.

08:56A five-member panel will probe the circumstances surrounding Rishikesh's death and submit its

09:03report within two weeks.

09:05The panel includes former Uttarakhandi GP Ashok Kumar and AIMS Psychiatry Head Professor Pratap

09:11Sharma along with student representatives and the IIT Delhi Registrar.

09:16The institute has also announced financial assistance for the family, an ormsward person

09:21for student grievances and a new mentor system for students needing mental health support.

09:27But the demand for senior officials' resignations remains unaddressed.

09:33Students have also rejected the administration's response as inadequate and evasive and so the

09:39protests continue.

09:41For these students, this is no longer just about one death.

09:45It is about whether one of India's premier institutions is truly listening to its students.

09:52students.

09:52When a student is struggling, who is listening?

09:56And when students say they raise the alarm, who will be held accountable?

10:01Vidhan Mool Bali, Bureau Report, India Today.

10:08And my first guest is Dr. Manindra Agarwal.

10:12He is, remember, Director of IIT Kanpur, one of the most prestigious IITs in the country.

10:17Good to have you, Dr. Agarwal, on the show.

10:20But before I come to you, I just want to put some numbers on the screen so that people

10:24get a sense of what's happening.

10:26Just take a look at deaths on campus.

10:29IIT Kharagpur, 11.

10:31IIT Kanpur, 9.

10:33IIT Madras, 9.

10:35IIT Delhi, 8.

10:36IIT Gauhati, 5.

10:38IIT BHU, 5.

10:40IIT Hyderabad, 4.

10:41IIT Bombay, 3.

10:43IIT Roorkee, 3.

10:44IIT Patna, 3.

10:45This is between 21 and 25.

10:48Source is an RTI by IIT Kanpur alumnist Dheerat Singh.

10:53IIT student suicide, 67 deaths in 5 years.

10:562021 was 9.

10:582022 was 14.

11:002023 was 14.

11:022024 was 14.

11:032025 was 16.

11:06Again, this is based on that RTI by Dheerat Singh.

11:09Your response, Mr. Agarwal.

11:11Professor Agarwal, is something wrong intrinsically at IIT?

11:15Why should there be a disproportionate number of suicides on the campus?

11:20Very unfortunate.

11:22I mean, every single loss of life is utterly tragic.

11:26Everybody who comes to IIT as a student is a very talented individual.

11:31And to have such an unfortunate situation where that talent is cut short in such an unfortunate

11:40way is really tragic.

11:45IITs do have a very strong focus on academics.

11:52So there is an expectation from students to continuously do well, very rigorous programs.

12:00There is definitely an academic pressure aspect of doing everything.

12:06At the same time, we need to have, and many of the IITs have done this, that we know there

12:17is pressure and therefore we must create avenues to elevate or reduce that pressure as well as create

12:25mechanisms for an early detection of signs of some mental unwellness in any students.

12:36And they can be very proactive steps to intercepting.

12:42These approaches, at times, change and that is-

12:45So, two point, may I just, may I just stop you?

12:51So, two points come from what you've just said.

12:52One, you seem to accept that there is some level of academic pressure and B, is there

12:58enough being done to look at the mental health side of students who are working under this

13:04intense academic pressure?

13:09Well, I would like to think that we are doing a lot of things, but there is, it is never

13:14enough.

13:15I would say there is always scope for improvement and we must learn from the mistakes or omissions

13:24that have happened and proactively work to plug that.

13:28I should also add that apart from academic pressure, there are always other pressures which are in

13:34the lives of all students.

13:36Namely, at times, some relationship goes wrong.

13:40At times, today, some students get so absorbed in the digital make-believe world that they lose

13:50connection with the real world to an extent.

13:52And that creates its own challenges in front of it.

13:57So, all of these exist.

13:59The later to that I described exist everywhere and on top of it-

14:03Is there enough counselling and medical support to identify such cases to ensure that they have the right, that they

14:16get the right treatment?

14:18Is there a system still in place or is there far too much ad hocism?

14:23Should there be an institutionalized system of treatment, of counselling and early identification of such cases?

14:31Yes.

14:32Absolutely right.

14:33And I won't be able to speak for other IITs.

14:36I am sure they have certain systems in place.

14:39But I know more about IIT Kanpur where we have created a very extensive system.

14:45Again, learning from some very unfortunate incidents of the past where we very proactively today are monitoring.

14:55We have 10 trained psychologists on campus available full-time on 2747 calls.

15:04We have regular visits to hostels of students by these psychologists.

15:09We have an extensive student body which we call student counsellors who are trained to spot any sign of difficulty

15:22a student is facing and bring it to the attention of this counselling setup.

15:29And then the counsellors reach out and try to help the students.

15:36So, these are the steps that we have taken.

15:38So, would you say though, you know, you've taken steps but when I look at it, even IIT Kanpur has

15:47not been immune to death by suicide.

15:49I mean, that's the worry that you are saying you've taken steps but obviously those steps are either not enough

15:55or the problem is far deeper.

15:57We have, like I said, we have learnt from the past unfortunate incident and many of the steps were already

16:06taken.

16:06They have been around for a long time but we have added some more proactiveness to this since the early

16:15next year when a couple of incidents happened.

16:19And we constituted a committee which made a set of recommendations which we have implemented.

16:30I'm going to leave it there.

16:31Director IIT, Manindra Agarwal for joining me.

16:35Appreciate, sir, you taking the time up for joining us on this extremely sensitive and important subject.

16:41I want to widen the debate and raise big questions.

16:44What is ailing our IITs that so many students there are committing death by suicide?

16:50How does one check campus suicides in a high pressure IIT environment?

16:55Do campuses and those at the leadership there need to show far more compassion towards students?

17:01Joining me now is Aarti Rajaratnam.

17:05She's psychologist and author.

17:06I'm also joined by Shashan Shekar.

17:08He's an IIT Delhi alumni and he's someone who's blown a whistle on what's happened.

17:13He's also worked with the Congress party.

17:15And Maheshwar Perry is founder, Careers 360.

17:19I want to come to you, Shashan, because you have written a tweet today where you seem to suggest that

17:24these problems have existed for a fairly long time in the IITs.

17:29That this is not some one-off and you seem to suggest that there is clearly something desperately wrong in

17:36the functioning of the IITs.

17:38Do you want to amplify that, Shashan?

17:41So, firstly, we need to understand that when any batch arrives in the IIT, any IIT for that matter, everyone

17:51who goes there has been a topper all his life in his school.

17:55And once you enter that ecosystem, you are an average.

18:00Because you are getting people from across the country, across the cities, and all of a sudden, that superiority that

18:08you had in your school, in your college, in your school, in your city, it goes.

18:12So, the kind of support, the kind of empathy that is required in the system, it goes lacking most of

18:19the time.

18:20Like, in my time, during 2010 to 2014, when I was there, I've seen a number of cases where students

18:29were struggling for one reason or other, maybe, like, because of the academic pressure.

18:35And I would like to highlight one issue that was there during our time.

18:40So, you come from different backgrounds.

18:43The curriculum in any IIT is taught in English.

18:47If you come from a state where the primary language is not English, let's say Bihar, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh, states

18:55where education is in general low, and it's mostly Hindi-based.

18:58When you start studying, you convert everything from English to Hindi, solve the problem, then convert it back to English.

19:08So, it takes more time, and hence, it gives you a bit of disadvantage when it is compared to people

19:15who have studied, let's say, in Delhi, in premier schools of Delhi, in South India, where the primary language has

19:21been English.

19:23So, that support was not there.

19:27And once someone starts struggling, there was no support mechanism.

19:32Like, I mentioned my case, but I was lucky enough to have professors who were there supportive enough, who helped

19:39me out to come out of the situation and tackle my academics.

19:42But there are a lot many students who don't get the support, are not close to any professor or anything,

19:48and they, like, struggle, and a few of them drop out eventually.

19:51And a few, very, a few number of cases do, very unfortunate.

20:01You know, can I just, you know, repeat the tweet you put out?

20:04You say, 2011, my nanaji died in Patna.

20:07I took the train home.

20:09I watched my mama light his fire.

20:12I sat through the rituals.

20:14I missed two minor exams at IIT Delhi.

20:16When I returned to campus, I went to ask for a re-exam.

20:20A professor looked at me and said, you people from Bihar come here on reservation, can't handle the pressure, then

20:26make excuses and kill your grandparents ten times over.

20:30Bring me his death certificate.

20:32I was 20 years old, 20.

20:34I had just come back from a funeral.

20:38You know, it seems to me that this is, of course, 2011.

20:42Now, you might have heard the director, IIT Kanpur, saying now they have established systems within to handle some of

20:50these concerns that individuals may have.

20:52Do you believe things have changed or do you believe the pressure is just as intense?

20:56Sir, you just yourself showed the numbers.

21:00I don't think the situations have improved.

21:03The level of intervention that is required to cater the number of students that are there in any IIT.

21:09Like at my point of time, only BTEC intake in IIT Delhi was around 880.

21:17Now it is somewhere around 1500 from what I know.

21:20So, the level of effort, the level of input, the level of support system that needs to be developed over

21:26there has not been there, sir.

21:32You know, let me bring in at the moment Aarti Rajaratnam because you are a psychologist, Aarti.

21:39Do you believe that there is something, can all these debts be attributed only to academic pressure?

21:45There could be various reasons, right, that are responsible tragically for death by suicide.

21:50So, should we be immediately saying IIT suicide must be academic pressure?

21:58Like you rightly said, Rajdeep, it's not just academic pressure.

22:02But of course, Shashank has made a beautiful point that, you know, when you come into an IIT, you probably

22:07come from a system where, you know, you were the topper, you had an advantage and now you're just average.

22:11So, there are two parts here. But more importantly, I would like to go back to India's preparation for these

22:17exams.

22:18We, the teenager typically requires a lot of social interaction and they learn from the peer group at this point.

22:25But this is the age that we actually take children away from the peer group, put them in these unnatural

22:31coaching centers, et cetera, et cetera.

22:33And then we actually stunt their growth, which is something that they can acquire only from the peer group.

22:40And then there is the social media aspect of it, where algorithms are leading them to, you know, very, very

22:48small circles of their own mind.

22:50And the third aspect that I would definitely like to make as a point here is that we are actually

22:56relational beings.

22:57No matter, I heard the IIT Kanpur director talk about how they have corrective measures.

23:03But, you know, here it's a preventive measure that's more important.

23:06It's not enough to just have counselors.

23:09We need to look at it from a community based approach because you already know that, you know, this is

23:14a high pressure environment.

23:15You need to have a lot more opportunities for young people to come together, to connect, to belong.

23:22You know, the sense of belonging is the single most important aspect of helping people feel like, you know, even

23:28if the going gets tough, I can make it through this.

23:31In this particular case that we are specifically discussing, I would also like to bring into the fact, bring in

23:37the fact that the person was grieving a father's death.

23:40He came back and he had to, you know, submit reports and things like that. The pressure of something like

23:48that is something that is not easy.

23:50You can't articulate something like that. And I think a little bit of empathy, a little bit of compassion would

23:56have gone a long way in preventing this.

23:59So, I hope I have sort of made myself clear.

24:03Yeah, you know, you made compassion, empathy. Maheshwar Perry, you have been often raising your voice saying it's a maddening

24:12competition out there.

24:13Whether it's for the NEET, whether it's for JE, you come through this maddening competition system, then you come within

24:18an IIT campus where you also face further competition.

24:24Do you believe that there needs to be some drastic relook at the way the system functions?

24:30Or over the years, let's be honest, the IITs have produced some celebrated Indians who've done rather well.

24:36Can we use the examples of these tragic deaths by suicide to suggest there's something fundamentally wrong with the way

24:43IITs function?

24:45So, I'll first take the latter part of the question, Rajdeep. Sometime in 23, what happened was there were two

24:51SC students who committed suicide.

24:53At that point then, the Supreme Court got in because the parents complained and went to the Supreme Court.

24:58And the Supreme Court formed a committee, just the Sravindra Bhatt Committee.

25:00That committee actually submitted a report in the first week of June 2026.

25:05It examined all the possible causes of suicide at IITs and suggested some recommendations.

25:11The first thing that IITs must do is to just go through that report and ensure that each of the

25:16recommendations that's there is implemented.

25:19Because increasingly, education has become very transactional.

25:22There is no relationship happening and that's a very, very sad case here.

25:25It can be in quota or it can be at IITs.

25:29Increasingly, most faculties like the Guru Shishya Parampara where someone walks in, he becomes your child till the child goes

25:34out of your precincts,

25:36is no longer the case at this point in time.

25:39It's largely transactional where the child doesn't have anyone to lean or confide in also.

25:45And that's a very serious problem here, mind you, because these people are very good students as was said,

25:51but they're also very fragile at a certain level.

25:54And one small push is all it takes for the student to be on the other side.

25:59And in this particular case, I do blame a lot of lack of empathy in the institution completely.

26:05You know, the child had a mental health problem.

26:07He was grieving his father's death.

26:09He came back and mind you, he was in Nimhan's for some time also.

26:12So it was a serious problem.

26:14So it's not that the signals were not detected.

26:16You know, listen, he went to Nimhan's and stayed there and then came back.

26:19So you actually had a child with mental health problems, grieving his father's thing,

26:22who was made to stay outside the IIT things because they didn't want to take responsibility.

26:29They were just pushing the responsibility onto the mother.

26:32If I were the IIT director, I would have actually said,

26:34listen, I'm giving you a room here in the hostel, one of the rooms.

26:36The mother stays there, the child stays there till everything is sorted out.

26:39In this particular case, when you push out a student who had so many issues going,

26:44and they were also struggling financially also.

26:48So look at the number of problems that were added onto a child when they were studying.

26:53Yeah.

26:57You're saying something else.

26:58No, no, I take your point.

26:59But you know, what is intriguing and interesting?

27:01Now, what is intriguing and interesting, Shashank Shekar, is the fact that

27:04this time the students have protested.

27:07There are angry protests.

27:08I don't know whether this is a fallout of what we are seeing over the last couple of months,

27:12that suddenly a lot of the pent-up anger, grievances are coming out against the system.

27:17And it isn't easy, presumably, for the IIT students to come out, demand the resignation of the dean.

27:23It's almost as if they've taken the role of activists.

27:25You know, holding candlelight marches, demanding action be taken.

27:29Are you surprised?

27:30Are we seeing these protests, this movement for anger and angst now,

27:34coming to the prestigious IIT campuses as well?

27:37So, it's a very welcome change, to be honest.

27:41Because earlier, in our times, something like this was completely unheard of.

27:47People were afraid to raise voice against the administration because they feared facing setbacks,

27:55undue setbacks that might come in their way if they raised their voices back then.

28:00It's a very welcome change that students are getting inspired from the outside ecosystem

28:06and raising their voice for something that is right, that should have been corrected long back.

28:16Mayesh, you raised your hand.

28:18So, the thing Rajdeep…

28:19You want to add to that? I mean, these images we are seeing out of IIT are unusual.

28:24Students in IIT campuses have often been very obedient, if I may use that word.

28:29Yes.

28:30Yeah, I think obedience is the last thing that students should be going through, actually, honestly.

28:34But more importantly, Rajdeep, here in this particular case, the Dean actually gave an assurance on a letter.

28:39But the trust between the student and the administration has completely fallen apart.

28:43It happened at CJP protests also, where there were certain commitments that were made,

28:47which CJP now says are not being fulfilled, even though it was given by two ministers.

28:51When the trust between the administration and the students falls apart,

28:55it will invariably lead to agitation and it will become a much more serious agitation as you move along.

29:00Very important to build those bridges where the faculty, the teachers, the administration

29:05talk like local parents of the students than being administrators or bureaucrats who are handling a situation.

29:11Because that will not bridge the gap and it will only create much more serious problems.

29:15In this particular case, Rajdeep, again I repeat,

29:18if the child had someone to talk to at the IIT level itself, who would have fought his case?

29:22This wouldn't have happened. Because he didn't have anyone to confide in who would fight for him.

29:27That this entire issue happened.

29:30I just wish that every student has someone to talk to, someone to confide in, someone to cry, lean their

29:36shoulder on.

29:37And that is extremely important at a faculty or administrative level. That's very crucial.

29:44So, Aarti, if there was one piece of advice that you would give IIT faculties,

29:49there have been Supreme Court reports on this, urging wellness centres, counselling centres,

29:54IITs have put them in place.

29:55But given what we saw that's happened at IIT Delhi,

29:58if there was one piece of advice that you would give those in charge, a dean in charge, what would

30:03that be?

30:05It's more important to focus on the connection and not the content of what you're teaching.

30:10So, if you can just connect with your students first, then I think everything else,

30:14because these are intelligent children, they can study without you.

30:17They can excel without you.

30:19But what they need is somebody who is empathetic, compassionate and present for them.

30:23So, I think that's the one piece of advice I would give any educator across the country.

30:30So, you're saying it's not just having counselling centres, but even the professors have to show

30:36large amounts of empathy to their students in their one-on-one interactions or group interactions.

30:43Am I correct?

30:44Yes.

30:44Don't leave it only to professional psychologists to do that.

30:47Yes.

30:48That's right.

30:49Okay.

30:50I'll give you a final word also, Shashan.

30:52When you're seeing these visuals, you said that you're happy to see that the students of IIT are raising their

30:58voice.

30:59Do you believe that this is not just a problem, therefore, of IIT, that we will see this spread?

31:04Do you believe that every IIT now needs to look inwards, introspect?

31:10So, firstly, I would like, as I mentioned in my tweet as well, that IITs are the institution that have

31:18built serious ecosystems and created a lot, many remarkable individuals in this country since their inception.

31:26And I'm grateful for IIT for whatever they have made me right now.

31:31Like, I'm whatever I am because of my college.

31:34But at the same time, if there are gaps, they need to be addressed.

31:38And it's not only about IIT Delhi, it's across the country, across all IITs, across all the institutions where competition

31:45is required for intake.

31:47Like, it was rightly said by ma'am that it's not only about counselors, you need to sensitize the administrative

31:56staff, you need to sensitize the professors, you need to sensitize everyone so that anyone who is suffering, who is

32:05handling something that is not used to handle any grief, then he has someone to fall back to.

32:11And not only his friends who are teenagers, who don't know about the world, so we need to train and

32:16sensitize the whole ecosystem over there so that we can reduce and hopefully one day bring the number to zero.

32:27I'm going to leave it there.

32:29Clearly, this is an issue which is sensitive.

32:31It has affected many students over the years.

32:34And I do hope that this becomes a focus.

32:37Mental health on our campuses, especially at the IITs, needs greater attention.

32:42Thank you all very much for joining me on my top focus tonight.

32:45Remember, it's a season of student protest.

32:48This time, today's big protest took place in Patna, where Bihar students, aspirants of the BPSC state exams took to

32:58the streets, turning their anger against the Bihar government over alleged irregularities in the examination and recruitment protests.

33:06Hundreds of students marching from Gandhi Meidan towards Chief Minister Samrat Chaudhuri's residence.

33:12Protesters broke through police barricades, marching towards the residence.

33:16When the police moved in to stop them, water cannons had to be fired, followed by Lathi charge at multiple

33:22points and several protesters were detained.

33:25At the heart of the agitation, the 70th BPSC examination, where there are allegations of irregularities and students are seeking

33:35a re-exam.

33:37Familiar scenes now every day in some corner of the country or the other.

33:43Okay, let's turn talking about familiar scenes to another familiar scene in this monsoon season.

33:49Heavy rains have lashed the areas in and around the national capital for the last 36 hours.

33:55And typically, the two days have exposed the utter mess that lies in the Delhi NCR.

34:01No place exemplifies the complete crumbling infrastructure than Gurugram.

34:06Now, Gurugram has perhaps the highest net worth of individuals per square kilometer.

34:13But when it comes to drainage, well, you probably need a boat.

34:17Take a look at today's report and then we'll ask, when will Gurugram and our cities ever change?

34:24Take a look.

34:35This was Gurugram on Monday.

34:37A few hours of rain and the millennium city came to a standstill.

34:43Roads disappeared underwater.

34:47Vehicles were stranded.

34:50Traffic collapsed.

34:58And then came the most disturbing visuals.

35:03School children trapped in the chaos.

35:10A school van carrying nursery students got stuck near Sheetla Mata Mandir.

35:16The children had to be taken out of the stranded vehicle while their parents struggled through the water to reach

35:22them.

35:22For some families, it took hours.

35:29As a parent, it was a very traumatizing time when I was in the office and my wife didn't have

35:38any transport available.

35:40So, we were not able to reach out first.

35:42But thanks to, I would say, the school teachers,

35:47who always kept us connected with the children and kept their attention.

35:52They gave them biscuits and some food.

35:55So that they were settled down and scared.

35:59Imagine that.

36:00A child leaves school and ends up stranded in flood water.

36:04After just one hour of rain.

36:09And Delhi was no different.

36:10The national capital was severely waterlogged on Tuesday.

36:15Roads flooded.

36:16Vehicles stranded.

36:18Normal life disrupted.

36:20This is no longer a monsoon inconvenience.

36:23This is an infrastructure failure.

36:29A school route can become a danger zone.

36:33And one hour of rain can bring two of India's biggest urban centres to their knees.

36:40We are drowning in our own cities.

36:43Drowning in water.

36:46Drowning in neglect.

36:49Bureau Report, India Today.

36:55Let's raise the big questions once again.

36:57Guru Gram, can we call it a millennium city or simply call it India's sinking city?

37:03Costliest city when it comes to net worth individual but simply no drainage.

37:09National capital region once again completely exposed.

37:12How does one fix India's urban mess?

37:16Joining me now, Vaishali Rana.

37:18She's a conservationist, environmentalist, trustee, Arawali Bachao citizens movement.

37:23And has filed cases as a Guru Gram citizen against the flooding in the area.

37:28Dikshu Kukreja, architect, urban designer and environmentalist also with us.

37:33And Dr Shiv Singh Rawat, retired superintendent engineer at Haryana Irrigation and Water Resources.

37:39I want to come to you Vaishali because when you see these images on the screen.

37:43Of these children in their bus stuck amidst these swelling waters.

37:47What does it tell us about the state of urban infra in a place like Guru Gram?

37:53So, good evening, Rajdeep.

37:55This is happening repeatedly for over a decade now.

38:01The first time Gurgaon got waterlogged and there was a traffic jam for almost 12 hours was in 2016.

38:08When the DC of Gurgaon was Mr. TL Satya Prakash.

38:11And the government that time, Mr. Khattar was the CM.

38:16And they had announced, you know, they had made big statements that we will sort out this issue in one

38:22year.

38:23And next monsoon, you will not have to face this issue.

38:26Unfortunately, it is exactly 10 years now.

38:28And every year, repeatedly, Gurgaon gets flooded.

38:32People, buses, vehicles, people are stuck on roads for hours altogether, like together for more than six to eight hours.

38:39And this has been happening because I was an NGT in Green Tribunal for, you know, freeing up the stormwater

38:49drains of Gurgaon.

38:50Today, Gurgaon has about 550 kilometers odd of stormwater drains, which most of which are encroached today.

38:57This is the main reason why Gurgaon gets flooded, because there is no outlet for the stormwater, for the rainwater

39:05to get out of Gurgaon.

39:06And Bachshapur Nala is the arterial drain of Gurgaon, which drains the whole of Gurgaon.

39:13It is 28 kilometers long and it drains the whole of Gurgaon in monsoons.

39:17But today, that Bachshapur Nala has become a kude ka nala, a sewage drain.

39:22And the carrying capacity of the Nala has been severely compromised.

39:26That is the reason why Gurgaon gets flooded every year.

39:29The administration should focus on opening up the Nala, restoring…

39:32So, you're saying it's got worse?

39:35So, you're saying…

39:3618 kilometers…

39:37No, you're saying it's got worse rather than better. Am I correct?

39:40Sorry?

39:44Sorry?

39:45You're saying it's got worse instead of getting better.

39:47It has got worse because the Bachshapur Nala…

39:50It's got worse instead of getting better.

39:52Yes, it has got worse.

39:52It has got worse because 28 kilometers of Bachshapur Nala, which drains, drains the whole of Gurgaon today.

39:5918 kilometers of it is closed.

40:01It has been lost to encroachment.

40:03So, obviously, Gurgaon will flood today.

40:08Okay.

40:09Let me…

40:10You know, I want to bring in Dr. Shiv Singh Rawat because you're a retired superintending engineer, Haryana Irrigation Board.

40:16As it's been pointed out, it's getting worse.

40:19Politicians make promises.

40:21The fact is that encroachments are taking place all across a place like Gurugram.

40:27Do you accept that this is a man-made disaster?

40:31Yes, there have been…

40:32Absolutely.

40:32There have been rainfall.

40:34But it is also partly a man-made disaster.

40:38Absolutely.

40:44Dr. Rawat, do you accept that?

40:48You're on mute.

40:49You're on mute.

40:51Good evening, Rajdeep.

40:52You're on mute, sir.

40:54I'm audible now?

40:55Yes.

40:57Good evening, Rajdeep.

40:58Yes, yes.

40:59You're audible now.

41:01Yes.

41:01The fact is that the encroachment on the entire Gurugram by having the…

41:11in the name of development, by concretizing all the surface area has reduced the absorbing capacity of the

41:21by the…

41:22by the soil, by the earth, by the ground water and ultimately it has resulted in rapid runoff which is

41:32causing the problem in the depressions and along the obstructions like the national highway, like the major roads and…

41:40No, but who's responsible for it?

41:43No, no, sir.

41:44Sir, we know the problem but who's responsible?

41:47I mean, do you accept that the government of Haryana and the Gurugram administration has singularly failed?

41:55It's a long-term failure on the part of the administration, of course.

42:00Undoubtedly, it is like that.

42:01The planning has been totally failed and the drainage was never a part of the development.

42:13And recently, if you see the flyovers, we have constructed the buses.

42:22We have another spot of the vulnerability for the… this waterlogging.

42:30And the problem has been created along the… in the…

42:34You know, the fact… you know, the truth is that we all… you know, we all know the… you see…

42:40no, no, sir, we all know the problem.

42:42The problem is who is going to be held accountable.

42:44You see, Dikshu Kukreja, this is coming down to accountability.

42:47I can hold this debate next year.

42:49I held it last year.

42:50I held it the year before last.

42:52And we can continue groaning and moaning.

42:54Who is going to be held accountable, Dikshu?

42:58So, yes, the name has changed…

43:00Or who should be held accountable?

43:01The name has changed from Gurgaon to Gurugram, but not much else.

43:05And you and I have been discussing this for over a decade now.

43:09So, it is a pity.

43:10It's sad the way things are.

43:12Accountability obviously rests with those who are making policies.

43:15But I would just say something here that, you know, let's not… not just talk about one Badshapur Nala or

43:21the perils attached to it.

43:23You need to understand the fundamentals as a planner.

43:26Gurgaon, the way the city is located geographically, topographically, is fantastic.

43:32Right from the Arabli foothills to the Najafgad Basin, there is a difference of about 60 to 70 meters in

43:38elevation,

43:39which is a perfect slope that can be created.

43:42And for centuries, that's the way Gurgaon has existed.

43:45Rainfall has happened and water has taken its path.

43:48But what has happened now is that we have created so-called master plans, which water unfortunately doesn't follow.

43:55Water follows the topography of the land.

43:57And here we are concretizing the place, but we are not understanding that it's not just about collecting water and

44:03discharging it.

44:04The right policy anywhere in the world is that you collect water, but then you also allow that water to

44:10infiltrate.

44:11You can store water as close to the place where it falls rather than trying to take it kilometers away

44:17through drains.

44:18These fundamental aspects of planning, which is really called blue-green infrastructure.

44:24You integrate the green areas with the blue areas as in where depressions, ponds, lakes and all retention areas are

44:32there.

44:33This kind of planning is important.

44:35I have a point to make, Raj.

44:36But who does the planning? Are we going to put all the blame on the government?

44:42What about the private developers in Gurgaon? Many of them are selling their flats for 50 crores and upwards.

44:49No, Rajdeep. Rajdeep, I have a point to make here.

44:52One minute. I'll come to you, ma'am.

44:54Give us time to speak.

44:55One minute, ma'am. Let Dikshu complete. Let Dikshu complete.

44:59Both are to blame because even the developers have only collected, amassed their private wealth, but they have failed to

45:07think beyond the boundaries of their plot.

45:08That's not the way development is done. You need to think of the public infrastructure. You need to think of

45:14the public spaces, which has never been the case.

45:17The developer has just purchased the land from the farmer, got the land use converted, and then gone about building

45:23his own isolated silo.

45:25And these so-called islands of excellence, as they call them, are really creating the kind of mess which I'm

45:31seeing right now on the screen.

45:33So both are to blame. And I would also go ahead and say that it's time the citizens also start

45:39taking things into their hands.

45:40When there is a drain, why do we allow those drains to get clogged? Why do we allow encroachments to

45:46happen right under our nose?

45:48These kind of things are obviously going to add to the perils of what we are seeing on the screen.

45:53So it's important that citizens...

45:56No, no, but Dikshu...

45:58No, Rajdeep, no.

45:59Yeah, no, I take your point about citizens, but there is so much, only so much that citizens can do.

46:04We can't blame the... No, no, no, no.

46:09No, no, one minute, one minute, ma'am.

46:11Citizens can't be blamed for this, Rajdeep.

46:13Citizens can only do so, ma'am.

46:15No, no, but all of...

46:16No, nobody is blaming you, but when citizens also, when citizens...

46:20Can citizens put some pressure at all on administration or not?

46:25Or do we all live in our little silos, in our gated communities?

46:30I agree. The citizens can put pressure, but we can't...

46:33It is basically the administration which is failing Rajdeep.

46:38A person who's buying an apartment, say, in a building which is made on a nala or on the floodplains

46:45of a nala,

46:45he would not know that the building is made on a nala.

46:48It is the town and country planning department which is responsible.

46:51How do you allow a building to come up on a floodplain of a nala or on a nala?

46:56We were in NGT exactly for this reason, and why Bajshapur?

46:59It is about Bajshapur Nala, because it is an arterial 28-kilometer long drain of Gurgaon, which drains all the

47:07run-off rainwater of Gurgaon and takes it to Najafgatjeel.

47:10And then we had about 100 barns inside Gurgaon, all of which are lost.

47:16So, Bajshapur, all the run-off water would collect in these ponds.

47:19There are actually five such drains.

47:20There are five such drains which go.

47:23The point here is not just about one element...

47:25No, but is it Dikshu too late? Dikshu, just a minute.

47:28No, the nalas get encroached.

47:29Dikshu, one minute. Is it too late? Is it too late now?

47:33No, it's not.

47:36It is very simple. I would still admit it's simple to solve it. We need to have our minds behind

47:47it.

47:48And I'll give you a very simple example. To begin with, when we do calculations of how much rainfall will

47:53happen annually, we are looking at historical data.

47:56That's irrelevant today with climate change.

47:58So, the first step is you need to look at data of the future, which is all available.

48:03You can project those numbers and then calculate that.

48:07Second thing, when you create concrete surfaces or hard surfaces and you cannot avoid them, that's all right.

48:13But you cannot just calculate the amount of rainfall.

48:17You need to actually calculate the speed of runoff.

48:20Because when the water falls in that one hour, it's not about collecting or quantity.

48:25It's about the runoff possibility.

48:28How do you control runoff?

48:29You make some of these surfaces permeable.

48:32For example, footpaths don't have to be completely concretized.

48:36You create permeation in the footpath so that some of the water percolates into the soil.

48:41So, there are very simple solutions and I could go on for the next one hour to tell you only

48:46simple solutions.

48:47The point here is those responsible for it, the civic officials and the government needs to understand that it's high

48:54time, it needs to be fixed and only then if there is a will, the way is there. Trust me.

49:03Okay.

49:04Well, you need a movement.

49:05You need a real movement in Gurugram.

49:07The Gurugramers who are India's rich and wealthy, many of them.

49:11Rajiv, we will rant on social media.

49:17Need to walk the talk.

49:20Yes, madam.

49:21That's what I said about the citizens.

49:22They need to also…

49:23Yes, Mahesh Ali.

49:26As per the records of Forest Department, we had 110 Czech dams in Gurgaon.

49:31Out of those 110 Czech dams, which were made during the British period, and out of those 110 odd Czech

49:38dams, we are not even left with about 20 Czech dams in Gurgaon.

49:41So, you can understand the kind of why this flooding and Gurgaon, more than 50% of Gurgaon is concretized

49:47today.

49:48Right.

49:48So, if those Czech dams are lost, if Gurgaon is getting concretized, obviously, we will flood.

49:52But Bajshapur rain, which used to carry this rainwater, is also…

49:56I take your point, ma'am.

49:59I take your point.

50:00Ma'am, I've run out of time, but I take your point.

50:03And I hope that someone…

50:04Someone…

50:05Someone is listening.

50:07Okay.

50:07I'm going to…

50:08I'm going to take a hard break at this point.

50:10I appreciate you joining us.

50:11I appreciate the anger and the sense of frustration.

50:14Because, as I said, these images are seen year after year.

50:17Thank you all very much for joining us.

50:19All I want to say, just think about this.

50:22My take.

50:23Gurugram is supposed to be a smart city.

50:26If this is what a smart city looks like in the 21st century, what can I say?

50:32Even God can't help us.

50:34And even God cannot help Gurugram.

50:37Changing a name of a city is not going to get you anywhere.

50:40You need to stop being name changers.

50:42You need to be game changers.

50:45Think about it.

50:45Okay.

50:46Let's turn to our other top focus in Ireland and our special report.

50:50The FDA crackdown in Mumbai that every day is saying new and new eateries under the scanner of FDA Commissioner

50:57Tukaram Munde and his team.

51:00Mumbai has just seen another lot of suspensions of prominent eateries.

51:06Take a look at this ground report.

51:15The Maharashtra Food and Drug Administration's crackdown on eateries for safety violations is exposing Mumbai's food establishments like never before.

51:24The food inspectors on Monday reached the Mumbai Cricket Association.

51:29Five establishments linked to the MCA were among the nine whose licenses were suspended in the latest drive.

51:37The outlets associated with MCA facing action are the Permit Room, Pavilion, Mediterranean, Oriental Swing and Clubway and Pastry Counter.

51:48The other restaurants that faced action include Sankalp Mahila or Diogic Utpadak Sahakari Society Limited in Kurla, Lennox Food Works

51:57in Mahim and Cafe Cattle and Chinatown Fast Food Centre in Shivaji Park.

52:03During its inspection, the FDA identified several lapses such as poor cleanliness, improper food storage, inadequate temperature control, lack of

52:14proper ventilation and poor personal hygiene.

52:18The FDA drive also covers schools across the state.

52:22It has inspected 250 schools and eateries in their vicinity.

52:28Meanwhile, the watchdog has intensified its checks on milk and dairy products across Maharashtra.

52:34According to an FDA press note, 7,332 litres of milk, 104 kilos of curd and 88.4 kilos of

52:43cream were seized during the statewide drive.

52:45We are a report, India Today.

52:50Tukaram Munde, a man on a mission.

52:53Okay, let me turn from there to our good news today story.

52:57This is Rakhi week and today I want to tell you the story of a Muslim family that's keeping an

53:02old Raksha Bandhan tradition alive in Maharashtra.

53:06Taj Muhammad's family has been making Dev Rakhis for five generations.