The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh News : Food for thought

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Tuesday, Jan 15, 2008
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Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh

Food for thought

Bhogi bonfire created a smog leading to problems, Sankranti celebrations are already causing noise pollution with different communities contributing to it through congregations. Kanuma, known as Pasuvula Panduga or festival of the cattle. Cattle and their sheds are cleaned and would be worshipped, something the animal lovers would appreciate. But what they probably don’t know is the number of animals going to the slaughterhouse the same day and even before, only to become food for those feasting on Mukkanuma.

Plainspeak

Union Petroleum Minister Murli Deora, known for his wit, told Vizag MP N. Janardhan Reddy that “now it’s his turn.” He gave a patient hearing to the wish list read by him at the request of Pendurthy MLA T. Gurumurthy Reddy for HPCL’s funding for a stadium, an auditorium and kalyanamandapam in the area.

Mr. Deora, who was in the city to unveil golden jubilee fete HPCL’s Visakh Refinery, gently accepted the request for construction of a stadium and told NJR “Reddyji, the rest of the wishes you should take care of from your MP Local Area Development funds.” When the city MP said that he had exhausted his funds, he told him that he was also helpless as he belonged to the Rajya Sabha. “I don’t have any such discretionary fund, ” he said, sending the gathering into peels of laughter.

Caves under threat

The magnificent Borra Caves continues to be a major tourist attraction. Thousands of people flock to the natural caves situated amid breathtakingly beautiful hills. But once you go inside the caves, there does not seem to be any mechanism to regulate people. Tourists, particularly youngsters, are quite excited once inside the caves. They are jumping over the railings set up to bar entry, climb on to the rocks there for video shooting. Some regulation is required at least during the peak season.

And scribbling names on national treasures seems to have become a collective pastime but the damage it does is incalculable.

Prabhakkar Sharma, Santosh Patnaik and G.V.Prasada Sarma

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