Every excavation in Delhi turns up the same story at a different depth. Scrape past the mound at Purana Qila and you find layer upon layer of people who came, held the ground for a dynasty or two, and left the next occupant to build straight over their floor. Nobody in this city has ever owned the ground for very long. They have leased it, for a reign, for a posting, for a five-year exam cycle, and then someone else has laid a fresh course of brick on top.

The paying guest is that same stratigraphy, just faster and above ground. A single room, a cot, a steel almirah, a landlady who ran the house like a small republic. The paying guest was a tenant with no tenancy rights -- let in, watched, fed on schedule, and expected to be grateful. This is a social contract older than most coaching centres now built on top of it.

PG culture has never been uniform across the city, but its policing has. Kamla Nagar and Vijay Nagar rent to North Campus students who are, at least, enrolled somewhere. Satya Niketan and Munirka do the same for South Campus. These students exist on a college roll. Someone, somewhere, is accountable for them.

Coaching colonies operate on a different register. Mukherjee Nagar and Old Rajinder Nagar for UPSC and SSC. Gautam Nagar, behind AIIMS, for NEET and FMG hopefuls, home to more than 10,000 medical aspirants. Laxmi Nagar for chartered accountancy. A student here is enrolled nowhere but a coaching institute’s fee register. No dean knows his name. The landlord becomes warden, informant, and moral guardian in one, and surveillance tightens exactly where institutional accountability thins out.

Rhiya Yadav, the 27-year-old model who halted a police van packed with protesters at Shivaji Park last week, morphing into a symbol of resistance on social media, has approached the cyber cell of Maharashtra Police, alleging sustained online harassment, bullying and defamation.

The model, also known as Rhiya Ahir, told HT that she submitted an online complaint to the police on Saturday and would meet a senior cyber cell officer on Monday, seeking registration of a first information report (FIR) against those targeting her via social media.

“There has been consistent harassment, bullying, abuse and slut-shaming (since the July 22 incident). Right now it is online, but it can grow into something much larger. I don’t want my parents to be affected by this,” Yadav told HT.

Referring to the July 22 incident, she said, “I stood up for citizens and spoke against what I believed was wrong. Similarly, I also have to stand up for myself and make sure this abuse does not go unanswered.”

The hateful comments and messages maligning and defaming her started immediately after the incident, and increased as the days progressed. “Instagram has its own community guidelines, yet I have been portrayed as an adult content creator, which is completely misleading.”

MUMBAI: Changing between the Metro, Monorail and suburban railway at Mahalaxmi will soon become significantly easier, with the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) completing nearly 90% of a first-of-its-kind multimodal skywalk equipped with travelators.

The elevated pedestrian corridor, the first in India to feature moving walkways as part of a public transport interchange, will connect the Sant Gadge Maharaj Chowk Monorail station, Mahalaxmi Metro station on the Aqua Line and Mahalaxmi station on Western Railway’s suburban network. (SEE BOX)

Once operational, the facility is expected to cut transfer time between the three transport systems by almost 20 minutes by allowing commuters to switch modes without stepping onto busy roads or navigating multiple staircases.

The project comes at a time when Mumbai’s Metro network is expanding rapidly, but seamless last-mile connectivity between Metro stations, suburban railways and the Monorail continues to remain one of the city’s biggest challenges. At several interchange points, commuters are still forced to walk long distances or depend on autorickshaws and taxis to complete their journey.

The new interchange aims to address that gap through a 283-metre-long elevated skywalk fitted with six travelators spanning a combined length of 176 metres. The 11-metre-wide bridge has been designed to accommodate heavy commuter movement and will also have two passenger lifts to improve accessibility for senior citizens, persons with disabilities and travellers carrying luggage.

Pune Airport has introduced a golf cart service to improve passenger movement between Terminal 1 (T1), Terminal 2 (T2) and the Aeromall, offering a faster alternative to shuttle buses during ongoing internal road works.

The service is expected to benefit senior citizens, passengers with reduced mobility, families with children and those carrying heavy luggage.

Airport officials said congestion within the campus often delayed shuttle buses, particularly during peak hours. The golf carts have reduced waiting time, eased transfers and improved the flow of passengers.

Around 5,000 passengers use the service every day, officials said, adding that better coordination between the airport administration and the Airports Authority of India (AAI) has also streamlined internal traffic movement.

K S Rajput, vice-chairman of Aeromall Pune, said, “Due to the ongoing internal road improvement works undertaken by the airport administration, many passengers are walking between Terminal 2 and the airport lounge. The introduction of the golf cart service has significantly reduced the time required to reach the Aeromall. Around 5,000 passengers are availing themselves of this facility every day, and it has made internal passenger movement much faster and more convenient.”

Passengers said the facility has made transfers between terminals and the Aeromall quicker and more comfortable, especially during peak travel hours. Officials said it will continue to enhance passenger convenience as traffic at Pune Airport grows.

Two months after its completion, the much-awaited School of Eminence (SOE) campus at Kidwai Nagar remains idle as authorities are yet to inaugurate the facility, forcing students to continue studying at the congested Government School, Division Number 3.

The inauguration was originally scheduled for May 28 and was expected to be led by chief minister Bhagwant Mann. However, the event was postponed due to his unavailability, and no fresh date has been announced since.

A teacher at the school, requesting anonymity, said the staff had recently been informed about a proposed visit by the director of public instructions (DPI), secondary education, in connection with the inauguration.

“Last week, we were informed that the DPI was likely to visit regarding the inauguration. Later, that visit was also postponed. Since then, there has been no update,” the teacher said.

The newly constructed campus has 40 classrooms and modern infrastructure designed to provide improved learning facilities for students.

Ludhiana central MLA Ashok Parashar Pappi had announced that the new building would primarily accommodate newly admitted students instead of shifting all existing students. Although the campus is fully ready to receive students, it has remained locked as authorities await the formal inauguration before commencing classes.

The project has already missed several announced timelines.

Residents of Panchkula’s trans-Ghaggar sectors are set to get long-awaited relief from chronic traffic congestion with the commencement of construction of a new bridge over the Ghaggar river. The project is expected to significantly ease peak-hour traffic, ensuring smoother movement of commuters while providing faster passage for emergency vehicles, including ambulances and school buses that frequently get caught in long queues.

A Bhiwani-based company, which was allotted the project on April 2 by the Panchkula Metropolitan Development Authority (PMDA), stated that the construction work has been initiated now. To be built parallel to the existing bridge, connecting the Sector 3/21 dividing road with the Sector 23/25 dividing road, the project is estimated to cost around ₹20 crore. The agency has been given two years to complete the project, with March 22, 2028, fixed as the deadline.

According to officials, the new bridge will ease traffic management in the area by allowing one-way traffic on each bridge, reducing congestion and improving travel time. A dedicated lane will be available for emergency vehicles, while 1.5-metre-wide footpaths will be constructed on both sides to ensure pedestrian safety.

The bridge will also strengthen regional connectivity by facilitating smoother movement of vehicles from Ramgarh, Barwala, Raipur Rani and Himachal Pradesh. The structure will be approximately 334 metres long and 14 metres wide.

With the civic body elections nearly four months away, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) suffered another jolt on Sunday as its councillor, Munawar, joined the Congress along with his supporters, key associates and the entire AAP ward 29 executive committee.

Now, the Congress, with nine members, has become the second largest party in the House while AAP has slid to third place with eight councillors.

Munawar and his supporters were formally welcomed into the Congress family by Chandigarh Pradesh Congress Committee President HS Lucky. He is the fifth AAP councillor to have defected to other parties in a short span of eight months, since December 2025.

He was elected from Ward 29 (covering Sectors 55, 56 and adjoining areas) in the Chandigarh Municipal Corporation elections held in 2021. Munawar had secured 6,187 votes, winning by a decisive margin of nearly 3,000 votes. He is regarded as a leader with a strong grassroots connection, particularly within the Muslim community.

Munawar, who had been associated with AAP for the past 12 years, said the party’s scenario was different at that time. “Now, there is nothing for those who want to work genuinely. The AAP leadership, both in Delhi and Chandigarh, is very weak. Leaders don’t answer phone calls easily. It is a struggle to get development works done. I had begun losing respect among the people who voted for me with high hopes. Now, the party is uninspiring,” he said.

He further stated that AAP listened only to those who have money. “I am a simple man hailing from UP who came here in the 1990s and made Chandigarh my home. How can I have the money they expect me to have?” he said.