Shared dream

Sir - Marriage is considered to be the ultimate objective of a woman's life in India. Lofty degrees, promising careers, and so on, are used to find a good match. A failed marriage is still believed to be the end of the road for women. People are not ready to accept that couples trapped in troubled marriages have the right to seek professional help. The institution of marriage should help women achieve emotional as well as financial independence. If a woman cannot stand for herself, no one, not even her husband, would help her to her feet.

Yours faithfully,

K. Ravi, Bhubaneswar

Go slow

Sir - It is unfortunate that 28 pilgrims lost their lives in a stampede that took place on the auspicious occasion of 'Maha Pushkaralu' in Rajahmundry ("Devotees killed in holy dip crush", July 15). One wonders why the pilgrims were not guided properly by the police, even though several ghats had been readied for them. How were the VIPs and the common people allowed to assemble on the same ghat? Such lapses must be checked to ensure that similar tragedies do not recur. The enquiry panel appointed by the chief minister of Andhra Pradesh, Chandrababu Naidu, must find out the reasons that led to this incident and suggest remedial measures.

Yours faithfully,

R. Sekar, Visakhapatnam

Sir - The tragedy at Pushkar Ghat in Rajahmundry not only indicates the failure of the police but also highlights the indiscipline of the crowd that had gathered for a holy dip in the Godavari. The police and the media thronged the ghat when Chandrababu Naidu went for a dip in the river. The ghat, which was closed to ordinary people, was opened after Naidu left. The police failed to guide the rushing crowd which resulted in the disaster.

It is time we learnt lessons from this unfortunate incident. VIPs should attend events without fanfare. The media's entry, too, should be restricted. Devotees should act in a disciplined manner. They should avoid taking their children to such crowded places. The Opposition must refrain from demanding the resignation of the chief minister on every issue. If some of these measure are followed, disasters could be averted in the future.

Yours faithfully,

M.M. Kale, Kakinada, Andhra Pradesh

 

Parting shot

Sir - The prime minister, Narendra Modi, had appealed to affluent citizens to forego their LPG subsidy. Such a step, he argued, would enable the poor to receive the benefits of the subsidy that is intended for bona fide beneficiaries. Parliamentarians must voluntarily forego the subsidized food at the canteens. The money saved can be used for development

 

Yours faithfully,

A.S. Mehta, Calcutta

 

On a high

Sir - We must congratulate the state government for making elaborate arrangements to ensure that the rath yatra in Puri goes on smoothly. The car festival on July 18 was celebrated without glitches. Managing nearly 15 lakh people on a single day was certainly a daunting task. A section of the Opposition has started criticizing the state government, without making any attempt to understand the efforts the administration must have put in to make the rath yatra a success.

The state government had been successful in organizing this function because of the constant monitoring by the chief minister. He had deputed half a dozen ministers to Puri to oversee the preparations and assigned jobs to top bureaucrats. An infrastructure supervision committee was constituted under the leadership of a senior politician.

Yours faithfully,

Abinash Das, Bhubaneswar

Sir - The digital campaign for Nabakalebar launched by the state government was a super hit. Within a fortnight of its launch, the number of people liking its Facebook page swelled. The number of followers on Twitter and viewers on YouTube was quite high. The Nabakalebar mobile application was downloaded by hundreds of people. The app provided important information related to hotels, hospitals, transportation facilities, banks, ATMs and nearby tourist points in Puri. The campaign by the state government was successful in giving the festival a global platform.

Yours faithfully, Archana Patnaik, Bhubaneswar

 

Sir - I had been to Puri to participate in the car festival. What impressed me was the way in which the administration had positioned ambulances and the rescue staff at strategic points in Puri town.

Of course, a stampede- like situation had developed in one of the narrow bylanes of the town and two elderly women died of suffocation. But the preparedness of the administration must have prevented many more of such tragedies from taking place. The police and volunteers have acted commendably in promptly shifting people to hospitals.

Yours faithfully,

Raja Mohanty, Bhubaneswar

 

Raise the bar

Sir - A convention centre with world-class facilities is being built near Gandhi Maidan in Patna. The move to build the hall is welcome news, even though the Nitish Kumar government has been criticized by its opponents for spending extravagantly on the project. The number of visitors to Patna is increasing. This is indicated by a rapid rise in the number of flights to and from the state capital. Patna thus needs a modern convention hall. The S.K. Memorial Hall was built in 1976. Since then, Patna has experienced a number of changes. The S.K. Memorial Hall is no longer fit to host international meets.

Patna also requires a few more five-star hotels. Organizers of important events often complain about the lack of quality accommodation. They have to depend on the rooms that are available in just three hotels in the state capital. Incidentally, none of them has five-star status. Yet, the rush is so great that organizers have to book rooms several months ahead of a scheduled meet.

The state government should explore the possibility of providing land to build several plush hotels in Patna. It is disappointing to note that delegates would still have to put up with substandard accommodation after attending a meeting in a world-class convention hall. Ranchi and Bhubaneswar boast of better accommodation than Patna.

 

Yours faithfully,

Rakesh Kumar, Patna

Parting shot

Sir - The state government has approved of a plan to build a bridge over the Ganga at a stupendous cost to connect Patna with Vaishali district.The proposal must be welcomed, even though it has come quite late.

For people who hail from North Bihar, crossing the Ganga has become a big problem as the Gandhi Setu and the Mokama bridge are in poor shape. The Digha-Sonepur rail-cum-road bridge is yet to be completed. Why did the state government not start work on the new bridge earlier? The Centre and the state government should make commuting easier between north and south Bihar.

 

Yours faithfully,

Ranjan Sinha, Patna