New light
Sir — Anyone who has felt the pain of waking up to the alarm clock in the morning can imagine the frustration of an elderly villager from Kerala who was being woken up at 3 am every day by his neighbour’s rooster. This led to him lodging a case against the bird. But perhaps he should have taken into consideration the fact that roosters are not nocturnal birds. Disruptions in their internal clock causing them to crow at 3 am are caused by overexposure to streetlights. Rather, it is the bird that bears justified grounds for holding a grudge given that it is being woken up long before dawn because of artificial lights.
Sreshtha Kumar,
Mumbai
Deep trouble
Sir — Repeated incidents of tunnel collapse indicate poor planning and a disregard for ecological concerns and safety protocols (“Silt, water threaten tunnel rescuers’ lives”, Feb 26). Fifteen months after the Silkyara Bend-Barkot tunnel disaster in Uttarakhand in November 2023, eight workers have now been trapped in a tunnel in Telangana. The previous accident had trapped 41 workers for 17 days. After they were miraculously rescued by rat-hole miners, the project was restarted and an operator was killed when the machine which he was on fell into a trench near the mouth of the tunnel. This points to a cavalier apathy towards the safety of labourers.
Sujit De,
Calcutta
Sir — One hopes that the government is making every effort to rescue the workers trapped in the Telangana tunnel. It is concerning that even the divers of the navy’s special forces unit, Marcos, were unable to wade through the slush, which is stated to be increasing constantly. Formation of fresh cavities in the exact spot of the tunnel collapse, which was throwing out more soil mixed with freshly seeping water, is being assessed as the reason for the rise in the quantity of slush. This is a terrible state of affairs. One hopes all the trapped workers are rescued.
C.K. Subrahmaniam,
Navi Mumbai
Sir — While the government’s efforts to rescue the workers trapped in the tunnel in Telangana are laudable, one must ask why it is not better prepared even after the last such accident in Uttarakhand.
Nikhil C.K. Maniam,
Mumbai
Sir — Given the difficulties being faced with the rescue operations inside the SLBC tunnel in Telangana perhaps the rat-hole miners who saved the day the last time could be employed to extricate the eight workers trapped inside. These rat-hole miners are proficient in navigating narrow, hazardous underground tunnels. Although this practice is illegal due to safety and environmental issues, when standard rescue techniques fail, their skills must be pressed to the cause.
Ranganathan Sivakumar,
Chennai
Right decision
Sir — The recent judgment of the Supreme Court critiquing an element of the National Medical Commission’s 2019 guidelines which requires MBBS aspirants to have both
hands intact marks a significant step against ableism (“Able view”, Feb 27). This decision is encouraging for numerous disabled aspirants who wish to pursue MBBS but are often deemed unfit under the existing guidelines. Many such candidates face prolonged legal battles to be allowed to follow their dreams, which are impeded by bureaucratic obstacles. This judgment challenges ableist biases and will go a long way in fostering inclusivity.
Kiran Agarwal,
Calcutta
Sir — The Supreme Court’s condemnation of the NMC’s ableist rule is a significant step toward inclusivity for persons with disabilities. It is imperative to eliminate such policies from all fields of education and not just the courses in medicine.
Vartika Singh,
Patna
