-The Times of India NEW DELHI: Drive to any Indian city. Chances are you will wade into chaotic traffic and roads full of potholes. You'll see choked drains, overflowing and smelly bins and streetlights that don't work. The reason for the mess isn't difficult to unravel. Most of our municipal bodies are cash strapped, unable to take care of the city's needs. The workforce is poor. Given the indifferent reputation of urban...

-PTI DEHRADUN: Rescue of pilgrims stranded in Badrinath came to an end on Tuesday with about 150 of them being safely evacuated even as the administration struggled with the task of supplying relief to remote parts of Uttarakhand where foodgrain shortage has been reported in 170 villages. On the 17th day of the calamity, the task of extricating bodies from the debris and their disposal in Kedarnath also remained a major headache...

-The Hindustan Times Not very long ago, most Delhi residents drank water directly from the tap. The government utility supplied water twice a day. Some was stored in kitchen containers for drinking and cooking. The rest went to the overhead tanks to be used for bathing and washing. It was not that the municipal supply was very reliable. There were days in the summer when one had to go without water....

-The Hindu     2,400 stranded at Badrinath, doctors warn of epidemics in Kedarnath Dehradun: Residents of dozens of rain-affected villages across Uttarakhand are starving and ill. Villages such as Pilang in Uttarkashi, Lambgodi in the Kedar Valley and those in the Yamuna Valley in Garhwal division are among the worst affected. Famished residents of Munsyari, Sosa, Sirkha, Gungi and several other villages in the Kumaon division have urged President Pranab Mukherjee to order the...

-Outlook The oasis UPA is supposed to have brought Pakur is a mirage UPA Divertissement Ad claims refurbished pond in Hiranpur block has promoted communal amity through ‘social and religious events'. Locals say no such events have held. Locals dissatisfied with the siphon irrigation system praised in the ad have damaged it repeatedly In fact, local administration is worried about a law and order situation if it files...