Rau's IAS Study Circle, a premier coaching centre in Delhi's Old Rajinder Nagar – one of the numerous such centres in the area – had four floors, a parking space and a basement which housed a library. In the evening of July 27, 2024, 30-35 students were attending an online session in the basement library when all hell broke loose.

Around 7 pm, with the roads outside flooded amid heavy rains in the city and roadside drains clogged, floodwater started gushing inside the basement. Some students managed to escape, others were rescued. But three UPSC aspirants – Shreya Yadav (25), Tanya Soni (25) and Nevin Dalvin (28) – got trapped inside for hours. Their bodies were later recovered.

Turns out, the centre's owner lied about the basement, the biometric system turned off due to waterlogging and civic authorities failed to clear the roadside drain before the onset of monsoon. The disaster has triggered students protests across the city, set off blame game between politicians, prompted the mourning families to seek answers and most importantly, laid bare major lapses...

Video Producer: Shohini Bose
Video Editor: Abhishek Sharma