Health and Safety
Stay Healthy
The Indian health care system is still somewhat below western standards, although health care is very accessible throughout. One may simply access a private practice for health care access instead of visiting a hospital.
Littering and air pollution can be an issue in India especially in big cities like Delhi so people with immune issues and breathing issues may want to use caution. Some cities have cracked down hard with heavier penalities on pollutors. Cleanliness of the cities vary. Some have gotten cleaned up such as Mangalore and Navi Mumbai.
No vaccinations are required for entry to India , except for yellow fever if you are coming from an infected area such as Africa. However, Hepatitis (both A and B, depending on your individual circumstances), meningitis and typhoid shots are recommended, as is a booster shot for tetanus. The CDC has a list of recommended vaccines when traveling to India.
Tap water is generally not considered safe for drinking at many installations, even by local populace. However, many establishments have water filters/purifiers installed, in which case the water may be safe to drink. Packed drinking water (popularly called "mineral water" throughout India) is a better choice.
As a thumb rule, it is considered safer to visit private hospitals or the larger (and more popular ones in cities) government hospitals in case of an emergency.
Stay Safety
Driving
India follows the left hand driving system. Irresponsible driving habits, insufficient road infrastructure development, and wandering livestock are some hazards that make driving difficult.
Police and other emergency services
Indian law enforcement entities are well-trained and take their public duties very seriously, although their duties may often be restricted due to corruption, a lack of resources, political will and influence, and low salaries. Trust in the police force has increased in recent years.
Officers in the lower hierarchies have much less amount of power. It is better to involve higher officers if the issue is something big like major thefts, road accidents etc. An approachable officer shall be the local police Inspector. However, police are generally very helpful towards foreign nationals and there are multiple cases which have been dealt with very well involving foreign tourists.
The emergency contact numbers for most of India are: Police (dial 100), Ambulance (102) and Fire (dial 101). In Chennai, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Kochi and other cities in India, you can dial 108 for all emergencies. There are also emergency apps like ruly sos which sends your number to the police and an alert with your location to your emergency contacts. Another app which sends alerts to your contacts is VithU. Health emergency apps like lybrate murgency and Practo could also be useful.