As monsoon rains lash cities across India, the familiar scenes have returned—waterlogged roads, electrocutions, hidden potholes, open drains, flooded homes, traffic paralysis, and tragic loss of lives.
Why do India's cities continue to collapse every time it rains? Is this simply a natural disaster, or does it expose deeper failures in urban planning, drainage systems, civic management, and infrastructure?
After highlighting the tragic death of Sarthak Mattoo, another heartbreaking case shines a light on a much larger crisis unfolding on India's roads.
In April this year, 23-year-old Karthik Suresh, an engineering student, was riding home on a bike taxi in Gurugram when a speeding Tata Harrier, allegedly being driven on the wrong side of the road, crashed into them. Karthik and the bike taxi rider both lost their lives.
The Maharashtra Minister for Social Justice, Sanjay Shirsat, started off well when confronted with questions about the death of a boy after a roadside tree fell on his school bus in Mumbai on Tuesday afternoon.
"Everyone is aware of the incident that took place yesterday. The government is set to make a statement regarding it in the House today, and instructions have also been issued to the corporation to ensure such incidents do not occur," Shirsat, the minister from Eknath Shinde's Shiv Sena, told NDTV on Wednesday.
As the Congress begins positioning Rahul Gandhi for the 2029 Lok Sabha elections, the road ahead remains filled with political and organisational challenges.
