The mercury touched 36.2℃ in Srinagar on Sunday, the highest in the last 25 years, and much warmer than Jammu. The local administration has suspended classes for primary students in all government and private schools in the Kashmir division till July 30

Participating in the debate in the Lok Sabha on the Union Budget of 2024-25, Gandhi claimed the fear is spreading through a ‘chakravyuh’ with everybody trapped in it.

A student prepping for the civil services examination wrote to Chief Justice DY Chandrachud Monday afternoon demanding action against city officials and others responsible for the deaths last weeks of three fellow aspirants, who drowned in the flooded basement of a coaching centre in east Delhi.

The student – Avinash Dubey – flagged poor infrastructure in areas like Rajendra Nagar and Mukherjee Nagar, residents of which often battle floods caused by drainage issues and “negligence” by the Municipal Corporation, and asked for protection of students’ fundamental rights.

Improper maintenance of drains in these areas means roads, many of which are narrow and crowded, are flooded by a mix of water and untreated sewage when there is rainfall, he said.

Floodwaters and sewage sometimes enter homes also, Mr Dubey complained.

He expressed frustration at having to wade through knee-deep sewage and criticised city officials and the Delhi government – both controlled by the Aam Aadmi Party – for negligence, he said, had forced students to live in dire conditions, and compared their lives to that of “pests”.