Rallying Together: A bit of history rolls on a Calcutta road

Apropos the report “Central aid for drainage”, August 15, it is encouraging that the Centre, state government and the civic body will undertake a Rs 231-crore project to upgrade the city’s drainage system. It is much needed. Even a moderate shower causes waterlogging in several pockets now.

Every effort should be made to start work after the monsoon is over. The blueprint should be drawn up scientifically so that there is no waterlogging anywhere in future.

Kestopur Canal has for a long time been the main channel through which rainwater is drained out of the city. It needs to be seen whether introduction of ferry services on the canal will hamper its capacity of draining out rainwater. Until new drainage options are created, Kestopur Canal should not be tampered with.

The level of roads has gone up considerably but the houses on the sides remain where they are. Hence, they get waterlogged during rains. The surfaces should be scraped and the road levels lowered so that the water can be drained out.

Dinabandhu Mukherjee,
Behala

It’s always nice to read about the vintage cars and the picture of the 1937 Rolls Royce was a feast for the eyes (In search of old treasures, August 19). I have seen the car and a Rolls Royce Phantom III, owned by a family in Jalpaiguri, several times.

Some princely families named in the article, like those of Hyderabad, Patiala, Darbhanga and Cooch Behar, indeed had fabulous collections of cars. But there are other families in the eastern region, like the Tikari family of Bihar, which also had a rich and large collection of cars. Many princes in Gujarat and Orissa had awesome collections of cars, too.

K.S. Singh,
Lyons Range

Sunita Dey is just one of the hundreds of women who have been killed by in-laws across the country this year (‘Traditional’ in-laws in net, August 3). In many houses, a newly-married wife has to go through hell in the hands of the in-laws while the husband keeps mum. There’s a social upheaval in the offing if torture of women does not stop.

Samir Chakraborty,
Ramrajatala, Howrah

Apropos the report “House falls to kill man”, August 20, the collapse of the century-old Bengal Bonded Warehouse was inevitable. Despite the fact that several buildings are in precarious condition across the state, the civic authorities cannot demolish them. The house-owners must demolish these buildings in the interest of public safety.

Govinda Bakshi,
Budge Budge

I keenly followed the campaign for safer roads. Along with phrases like killer buses, maybe you could coin another phrase “suicidal pedestrians”. While it is true that reckless driving, prompted by the commission system, causes a large number of accidents, the Calcuttan’s complete disregard for traffic rules is equally to blame. People cross the road wherever they fancy; they never use the pavements (when these are usable, that is); their desperation to catch the bus in the opposite lane causes them to throw caution to the wind. It’s a miracle that Calcutta does not have more road mishaps given the callousness of people on the road.

Mitul Sarkar,
Address not given

Death in road mishaps is part of the routine in Calcutta. The authorities seem reluctant to break the mould.

Sachindra Nath Mitra,
Beleghata

Malini Banerjee and her friends should know that they are living in Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee’s “oasis of peace” before enjoying the nightlife (Tailed by mobike tormentors, August 20). Anyone staying outdoors after dark can be attacked.

A. Roy Mukherjee,
PK Guha Road

The drive against plastic bags and the effort to replace them with paper bags is commendable (Paper chase, August 14). But there is a long way to go in becoming environment-friendly. Cloth and jute bags are better alternatives than paper bags, since manufacture of paper requires felling of trees. The civic body should also promote recycling of paper.

Amit Banerjee,
Golf Green

Apropos the report “Todi low profile, brand not so”, September 24, Sanjay Dutt is the brand ambassador of Rupa Frontline and not the other brand mentioned. Also, we are much ahead of our competitors nationally as well as in Bengal.

Bhaskar Mukherjee,
For Rupa & Co. Ltd.

Apropos “Trouble on flight over food”, October 17, no complaint was lodged with the police by the passengers who were detained by the security staff. We escorted them to the police to lodge a complaint about their rude and potentially dangerous behaviour on the flight.

Garry Kingshott,
Chief executive, JetLite (India)

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