Letters to The Editor — November 18, 2024

Manipur burning

After a lull, violence has returned to haunt Manipur (Page 1, November 17). The situation continues to be volatile with a spark enough to reignite the flames. It is appalling that the Centre continues to accord weightage to political considerations over the common man’s security.

B. Suresh Kumar,

Coimbatore

Hospital neonatal ICU fire

The hospital fire in Jhansi district, Uttar Pradesh, that killed infants is shocking (November 17). The word ‘maintenance’ is not very well known in government hospitals. One wonders whether there were miniature circuit breakers.

V. Lakshmanan,

Tirupur, Tamil Nadu

The thousands of crores spent on building places of worship should instead have been used to improve hospital and school infrastructure, especially in north India. The probe that the State has ordered will only be an eyewash.

A.R. Ramanarayanan,

Chennai

It is unfortunate that there are hospitals that function without adequate safety procedures. Be it public or private hospices, the authorities should ensure that safety procedures are followed, especially in oxygen-rich environments.

H.N. Ramakrishna,

Bengaluru

Negligence and the flouting of standard guidelines in the functioning of High Dependency Units (HDU) and Intensive Care Units (ICU) are the causes of such sad events. State-appointed inquiry committees often hide the truth.

Dr. Biju C. Mathew,

Thiruvananthapuram

Sri Lankan election

By dropping a fissiparous political ecosystem, the people from across Sri Lanka have voted for decisive change which augurs well for the country’s rejuvenation. The landslide victory for Anura Kumara Dissanayake is a landmark one that could set the trajectory of the country in the right direction.

Ayyasseri Raveendranath,

Aranmula, Kerala

Jumbo crisis

The poignant story of the elephants that ate fungus-laden Kodo millets was saddening (‘Ground Zero’ page, November 16). Cyclopiazonic acid, the toxin responsible, is produced by Aspergillus fungi. Ergot produces alkaloid toxins of a different kind but is not known to cause large-scale deaths in elephants. Since these toxins fluoresce in UV light, I suggest hand-held UV lamps be tried for field tests in the dark.

Dr. M.S. Gopalakrishnan,

Puducherry

Street as playground

The article, “The street turned playground” (‘Open Page’, November 17), reminded me of the bitter experience residents on my street had with ‘street cricketers’. Once a ball that was hit for a six came to rest on the first floor of my neighbour’s flat. He refused to give the ball back. It resulted in the house being pelted with stones. One fine morning, the boys were to begin their ‘one-day match’. A police jeep arrived and remained there till the boys dispersed. No one knows who called the police!

D. Sethuraman,

Chennai

Published - November 18, 2024 12:24 am IST