In the last few weeks of 2021, the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) released a harsh audit of Noida municipal authority. Over the past two decades, farm houses were offered for a net worth of Rs 100,000 or even less, a golf course became a backyard lane and residential colonies were created on land meant for industries.

       Towering above all these was the revelation that this was the first audit of Noida since it was established in 1976. Yet Noida’s humongous messy affairs are hardly unique. They also provide answers why citizens across India looking for emergency ...