Kerala - Kochi   

Readers' Mail

Mammoth problem

Sir, - Come festive season, the news of people killed by captive elephants starts coming in. These killings may or may not be preventable. But the question that has to be considered is whether we really need elephants for the various festivals.

Of course, elephants add charm to the festivals. But they look more charming in the forest than on the hot tar roads.

Elephants are treated very badly by the people concerned. For the good of the people and the elephants, we should consider not having them outside the wildlife parks and sanctuaries.

Ranjit Grover,

Thripunithura.

Lack of civic sense

Sir, - There is a tendency to blame the municipal authorities for not taking corrective action against littering of public places. While it is true that it is the responsibility of the civic authorities to keep public places neat and clean, one issue does not seem to be getting sufficient attention.

We often forget how a public place becomes dirty. A place cannot become dirty because of the lack of cleaning measures. It becomes dirty primarily because someone dirties it by careless handling of disposables.

These days even children know that plastic materials are non bio-degradable and should be treated differently from other routine degradable garbage. But who cares? Who has the patience to separate them, put them in two separate bags and dispose them in different collection pots separately marked?

In developed countries, citizens take this initiative, but what happens in our country is that garbage is bundled together in a plastic bag and thrown from speeding vehicles into a garbage container or similar objects. If no such containers are to be found, people dump the garbage at any vacant spot by the roadside.

Such a sight is common in Kochi. But Petta junction of Poonithura ward should attract the attention of environmentalists in addition to that of health and municipal authorities.

There are still some areas here that have not seen concrete structures come up because of various reasons. In this context, the keenness and commitment of Thripunithura Municipality is commendable. In this municipality, young women employees go to every nook and corner of the residential areas to collect garbage and ensure cleanliness.

An awareness programme to compulsorily educate the citizens against littering of public places is mandatory.

Captain O.B. Nair,

Kochi.

Bifurcate panchayat

Sir, - This has reference to the bifurcation of Maradu grama panchayat. This is indeed a welcome suggestion given the vast and unmanageable area of the panchayat - a fact that can be gauged from its streets overgrown with wild grasses and a drainage system with stagnant, black water that gives off a foul smell. A stroll around the Ayani Shiva Temple will convince anyone of this point of view.

Since Independence, we have come up with experiments and specific projects aimed a empowering grama panchayats, dividing the entire system into different tiers - grama panchayats, NES blocks/panchayat samities/district panchayats - with elected representatives and officials provided at all levels. The latest is the implementation of the Panchayati Raj Act.

The whole concept is to empower the rural people to manage their own day-to-day affairs without waiting for Central/State initiatives in areas such as primary education, health, sanitation, transport, irrigation, drinking water, spreading general awareness, rural sports, entertainment and so on.

If this is the angle from which we are to judge the status of a grama panchayat, the Maradu Grama Panchayat has utterly failed in its duties.

One wonders what the grama panchayat does with the taxes collected and the money the State Government allocates. It seems the money is not used for any developmental activity. The main activity seems to be confined to distributing unemployment doles.

Even when a World Mayors' meet was scheduled for January, the Kochi Corporation did not consider it necessary to give a facelift to its peripheral panchayats.

The panchayats and the district administration should discharge their responsibilities properly for the welfare of the local people.

K. Aravindakashan,

Maradu.

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