Pay for a peep through temple back door

The gates of Kalighat temple remain closed in the afternoon for some time. But the temple authorities have not put up any notice in front of the temple informing first-time visitors of the practice. The pandas at the temple always try to force visitors into buying flowers and hire one of them to offer prayers. But during those hours, they charge anything between Rs 51 and Rs 501, depending upon the worth of the ?party?, to let one have a darshan through the back door. A clever business tactic indeed, but is it acceptable at a temple? Can?t someone help visitors escape the clutches of these pandas?

Shalini Gupta, Southern Avenue.

Land grab protest

At Chandmari, along the Krishnagar-Majdia Road, a huge plot was earmarked for a Muslim burial ground. But over the past few years, some unscrupulous people have grabbed portions of the land illegally and have constructed temporary structures. A garbage dump has also come up at the site. As a result, the land available for burials has shrunk noticeably. I request the state government and the Krishnagar municipality to evict the encroachers.

Prahlad Agarwala, Majdia, Nadia.

Carbide check

The mango glut this season has been really enjoyable. Recently, I purchased a kg each of Himsagar and Langra. However, I found that carbide had been applied to some of the fruits to hasten the process of ripening. These fruits tasted and smelt bad. Why doesn?t the government conduct checks and stop the use of carbide by fruit vendors?

Bhupen Bose, Dum Dum Park.

Quality seal missing

There are no marks/labels endorsing the quality of the product (like the ISI mark) on many brands of bottles of drinking water available in the city. Particularly, there is no mention of the total dissolved solids contained in the water. Which category of food products does packaged drinking water come under? The food inspectors of the civic bodies should test samples of packaged water available in the market. In peak summer, few buyers bother about the quality and brand of bottled water. Often, the contaminated water (and not the heat) takes a toll on the consumer?s health.

Sunil Banerjee, VIP Road.

Turn over for a different price

Those escorting passengers into Calcutta?s international airport have to buy an entry ticket for Rs 55. The face of the ticket has information in English and Hindi and mentions the price. But on the reverse side, the ticket?s value is given as Rs 50 in Bengali. I request the authorities to rectify the anomaly.

Subhamoy Ghosh, Salt Lake.