Civic seat overlooked amid clean-city drives

Apart from the chambers of the mayor and mayoral council members, the Calcutta Municipal Corporation (CMC) office is very filthy inside. Betel stains on the stairs, corridors and walls on every floor give the civic headquarters a very shabby look. It is shocking that the civic body, which has taken up the responsibility of keeping the entire city clean, doesn't bother about how its own office looks. Moreover, though CMC conducts drives against sale of cut-fruits all across the city, vendors are carrying on with the trade right under its nose, in front of the Corporation gate. Will the new mayor look into these issues now'

Moumita Nandi, Behala.

Stranded by flood

Cancellation of long-distance trains from Calcutta to Mumbai for weeks together is unjustified. Though the trains cannot reach Mumbai, but the routes can be terminated at places like Nagpur, Bhusawal or Itarasi. The tracks near Mumbai are flooded, not the entire 2,000-odd kms between the two metropolises. Many people travel on Mumbai-bound trains to important cities and towns like Bilaspur, Durg, Raipur, Nagpur and Itarasi. What would they do' Does the railway have a reply to this simple query' The cancellation of the trains is not only causing hardship to the general public, but the railway is also losing a lot of revenue.

Raj Bagri, Ho Chi Minh Sarani.

Praise the President

Massive security arrangements were made for President A.P.J Abdul Kalam's visit to the city. On July 13, at around 2.36 pm, two white Ambassadors made their way out of the Nandan-Rabindra Sadan compound. A crowd had gathered to catch a glimpse of their President. Suddenly, one of the cars halted and President Kalam stepped out. He stood there, smiling and waving at the crowd, breaking all protocol. Our heartfelt thanks to President Kalam for the touching gesture.

Prantik Sanyal, SP Mukherjee Road.

Classes mar exams

Compartmental examinations for those who had failed in any one of the subjects in CBSE Class XII finals were held on July 29. My nephew was one of the candidates and his examination centre was Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan in Salt Lake. As regular classes were on, he faced a lot of difficulty during the exam. Most Kendriya Vidyalayas (Central schools), where the compartmental exam was conducted, had suspended regular classes beforehand. I request the CBSE to either hold these exams over weekends or instruct the examination centres to suspend classes for the convenience of the candidates taking the test.

D. Ghosh, Salt Lake.