Mayor fails to keep his word

KOCHI: Mayor Tony Chammany had promised umpteen times that the issue of waste treatment will be sorted out. Immediately after each promise, he would turn up with some lame excuses for not keeping his word. The latest in the series of gimmicks by the Mayor is the one on the construction of a new waste treatment plant at Brahmapuram.

Alas! All these gimmicks were not good enough to lift Kochi from its pathos.

It has been a year since the plant became defunct. But what the Mayor and his team did was just planning. And planning alone...

Around 40,000 tonnes of waste, including heavy metals like cadmium, mercury and plastic dumped by the Kochi Corporation at the Brahamapuram Solid Waste Treatment Plant has been posing a threat to the people living in and around the area.

The waste dumped by the civic body in the plant situated on the shores of the Kadambrayar leaks into the river causing severe pollution. The situation is getting worse day-by-day.  But the civic body has not taken any steps to mitigate the issue. The local body seems to be completely ambiguous about the setting up of a new plant. It seems that they are yet to decide on which plant they should start- the sewage plant or the solid waste treatment plant. That was why the delegation headed by the Mayor visited the Coimbatore waste treatment plant.

But the confusion still prevails.

When the City Express contacted Health Standing Committee chairman T K Ashraf  he confirmed that they were going to start a solid waste treatment plant. “We will soon invite express of interest for constructing the new plant. We will decide the agency to fix the conditions for submitting expression of interest on Wednesday,”  Ashraf said.

In an effort to know how the solid waste treatment plant can be successfully operated, the Corporation team visited a sewage treatment plant at Coimbatore! After the visit, they even submitted a report to the Chief Minister based on which the latter has given the nod to set up a new plant.

Aggravating the war between the Corporation and the people, the latter has made it clear that they would not allow a new plant at any cost. “Our beautiful village has already been ravaged owing to the existing plant. We won’t allow them to set up a new one here. The colour of the flag is not our concern,” said Abdul Basheer, a member of the Brahmapuram Action Council.

by Shalet Jimmy ( published in The New Indian Express)

13 years on, NGO quarters yet to be alloted

KOCHI: Getting an accommodation in the NGO quarters still remains a distant reality for many government employees.
Though the district administration has started evicting unauthorised occupants, the list of those seeking an accommodation in the NGO quarters has been pending since 1998.
A source said, “I submitted my application in 2007. There are slight chances for me to get quarters, as I belong to the reservation category.”
When asked about the pending list, Harikumar, head clerk, General Administration, said, “We are helpless as many occupants had acquired the quarters by giving a special request to the government.”
“Though the District Collector is vested with the power to allot the quarters, the State Government can overrule it, at any time, as per the provision that existed till 2010. Seniority, which is a major factor in acquiring government quarters, was also frequently overruled. About 95 percent of the occupants has acquired the quarters in this manner and most of them are high court staff,” he said.
“Although the district administration has started evicting unauthorised occupants, the task of allocating quarters is going to be nerve-wracking for the authorities concerned until the Public Works Department shows green light in the matter,” General Administration sources said.
“As some of the quarters are in a dilapidated stage, these could not be allocated by the PWD,” they added.
“The quarters are usually allocated to Class I, II, III and IV. Usually, the Class I category is in the
habit of breaking rules. As per the rule, a retired government employee has to vacate quarters the very first day he retires. But that
does not happen. The District Collector has the power to extend the stipulated
time to six months. But
there are many who have exceeded the time limit,” Harikumar said.
“We evicted 10 unauthorised occupants, out of which three of them were staying for the past two years. An occupant who was staying alone, too, was evicted, as these quarters are meant for families,” he said. As many as 38 other occupants were under close scrutiny and procedures were on to evict them, he added.


published in THE NEW INDIAN EXPRESS

Lazy corporation blames punctual monsoon

KOCHI: It seems that the efforts by the Corporation to ward off severe water-logging in the city stand thwarted, owing to the inordinate delay in the completion of the precautionary measures before the onset of monsoon.
The canal desilting work that began a few days ago has been stuck up with the timely arrival of monsoon. The scooped-up silt was not removed before the onset of monsoon and this has aggravated the problem.
"The cleaning of the canal was supposed to be completed by the end of May. The silt that has been accumulated on the fringes of the roads has already caused trouble to pedestrians. This scooped-up silt has reentered the canal which has destroyed the whole purpose of desilting," Elamakkara councillor Anil Kumar said.
He also alleged that the present council has not taken any steps to proceed with the procedures that were almost completed by the previous council.
"We have taken painstaking efforts to complete the procedures to clean the drains. The plans devised under the Esteem project have gone awry. This council did nothing but sitting on it," he said.
On the status of the ongoing drain works, Works Committee Chairperson Soumini Jain said, "We tried our level best to complete them on time. But it was all spoiled with the timely arrival of monsoon. Besides, the election code of conduct was another factor."
It is learnt that there are 18 projects to construct adequate drains only in the Central zone. Only four have been completed so far.
The construction of a major drain from MG Road to Flower Junction a month ago has completed its first phase. "As this drain passes through the Market Road, which is a busy area, we are rethinking on the plan," she said.

published in The NEW INDIAN EXPRESS

Rain lands city in troubled waters

South Monsoon has hit Kerala on time. But the authorities are blind to what is happening in the city.This situation prevails not only in Kochi but all other districts.

KOCHI: The threat of an epidemic outbreak is looming large over the city due to severe water-logging and overflowing drains at several places.

   Many roads in the city and suburbs remain waterlogged as there is no proper facility to drain stagnant water. Though monsoon has hit Kerala, the district health authorities have not come up with any substantial steps to alleviate the woes of the people.

Health Standing Committee chairman T K Ashraff said, "We are convening a meeting on Friday. A decision will be taken to form a squad that would be responsible to deal with any situation arising in the wake of an epidemic outbreak. Health inspectors and junior inspectors will be members of the squad and they will strictly monitor the situation." K J Jacob, councillor, Gandhinagar, said, "A meeting was convened a few days ago to take preventive measures. Since then, no steps have been taken to prevent an epidemic outbreak."

"Water-logging is a common phenomenon during rainy season. But the water should drain out within an hour. If this does not happen, the risk of catching diseases is high as the stagnant water will get mixed with the sewage water. In my division, there is severe water-logging," he said.

He also said that as the district administration has not come up with a substantial plan, people are depending on homeo clinics for preventive medicines.

However, Dr Amritha Kumari, District Medical Officer (DMO), Homeo, said, "We are also giving medicines to boost the immunity level of a person."

Dr Sudhakaran, District Medical Officer (DMO), said, "We have come up with many awareness programmes that would educate the people. Information, Education and Communication (IEC) is one such programme. We have also put up many hoardings in several parts of the city to create awareness among  the people."

published in The New Indian Express

published in THE NEW INDIAN EXPRESS

Althatara is a residential area in Thiruvananthapuram, which is the capital of God's own country - Kerala

THIRUVANATHAPURAM: The hue and cry over waste-dumping is not something new in the city. Althara, a residential area, has unwillingly followed suit. A vacant plot in Althara has now been transformed into an unauthorised trash dump much to the horror of the residents.

“Coping with the stench arising out of this waste deposit every day is not an easy task,” said C X Antony, whose house is close to this property.

When asked who should be held responsible for the dumping,  he said: “It is not easy to find out who is actually doing this, as there are not one but many.”

People who are not ready to pay money to the Kudumbashree units to pick wastes dump their wastes here, sometimes early in the morning or late in the night, which makes it difficult to identify them, he said. There were times, when his house was constantly haunted by snakes.

“Fish mongers also worsen the situation as they dump the waste here. If there is any maintenance work going on in any of the houses in that area, they too dump their wastes here. People are reluctant to dump even drainage wastes. When a dog or cat dies, it would be wrapped in a plastic cover and thrown here,” he said.

Pedestrians are also bearing the brunt as the waste often spills on to the road. Shanthini Jayadevan, a veterinary doctor and also a resident who lives at the other end of the property, said: “The people are not cooperative and that makes it all the more difficult to find a solution to this common problem. The plot has become a grazing field for snakes, stray dogs and other creatures."

The stray dogs pose another threat, she said, especially to her two school-going children.
A fire broke out on the plot thrice and the residents believe that it was done deliberately by those who were depositing waste as the mound of garbage was increasing beyond limits.

Two years ago, the residents had filed complaints with the Health Department as well as with the City Corporation through their Residents’ Association. But the situation still remains the same. When contacted, G Mohan, the then Residents’ Association president, said that he had brought the matter to the attention of the authorities and measures were taken to clean the property.  “We were also able to make the authorities conduct intermittent inspections then.” He said that fining those persons who dump the waste could be a solution.
Althara councillor K Suresh Kumar said that arrangements were made to clean the road whenever he spotted waste spilling on to the road from this property. “But as this is a private property, the Corporation has its own limitations. Fining the persons who dump waste is not an ideal option as they must be doing it in the wee hours,” he said.

When contacted, Pushpalatha, Chairperson, Health Standing Committee, said that so far nobody had brought the matter to her attention and that the Committee would soon look into the matter

by Shalet Jimmy

Incredible India

 This is the text I received on my mobile...I do not think I should clarify further.

What is India??? " 

A nation where Pizza  reaches home faster than Ambulance and Police.

Where you get car loan at 8% but education loan at 10%.

Where rice is Rs.20/- and sim card is free.

Where people worships Goddess Durga and kills brutally the female foetus.

Where Olympic shooter wins gold, govt gives 3 crore (30 million) and another shooter dies fighting the terrorists, the govt gives 1 lakhs ( 100 000).

Really an Incredible India

This is life. Don't be blind to it

I came across this video accidentally and I cursed myself for being too self indulgent. I am from a country (India) ,where you can see wealth and poverty together. Sometimes this utter poverty strikes straight on your face. Since we are self indulgent we always shove the truth into the back burner. But how long can we be blind to the harsh realities of life. How can we wake up our humanity from its slumber ?

" Humanity" is what today the world needs. It is shocking to learn that there exists a lot of people all around the world who is struggling to have a square meal. As an ordinary citizen of the world, I can only make an attempt to share this horrendous plight all around the globe.

Talaq (divorce) on cellphone valid

This post is based on a news that is published in a leading newspaper in India. The headlines goes like this " Talaq on cellphone is valid, says Deoband.

I really do not know what to make out of this news. It says if the husband utters 'talaq' thrice on a mobile phone will be considered valid, even if the wife on the other end does not hear it due to network or any other sort of problems. The news also talk about a man who is working abroad typed talaq playfully to his wife. In his query he said he really does not know how the talaq is executed.

Do you really want to know what happened next?

The Darul Ifta( the office of Islamic jurisprudence /)in its reply said if the talaq is uttered thrice it will amount to divorce. Hence as per the ruling, the wife is required to complete the iddat (3 months) period and if she wants to be with her husband, she is supposed to marry someone else and divorce him and again observe the iddat period. If she does all these, she can marry her former husband.

Is this a joke. No ! It is a truth that happened.

A reminder from 2010

 

This  picture  shocked the entire world...

Aiysha was just 12 when she was married off to a Taliban fighter.  She was subjected to many atrocities. She was made to sleep in a stable with animals. She was caught while she was trying to escape the clutches of her husband. The punishment meted out for her mistake was horrendous. Her nose and ears was sliced off mercilessly and she was left to bleed and die in the mountains. But life gave her a second chance.When she gathered her consciousness, she somehow managed to reach her grandfather’s house from where she was taken to an American military hospital.

She also received an Enduring Heart Award for enduring  the worst ordeal of her life.

Food for thought

This is something that I came across as a sheer coincidence and every such coincidences offered a lot of things to ruminate. A news  was published in an online paper almost one year ago and it was like this.

Eight year old Saudi girl divorces her 5o year old husband - definitely a food for thought. 

Her mother applied for a divorce twice and was rejected .One judge ruled out the divorce citing that she could apply for it only when she reaches her puberty. The girl was coerced into marriage by her father for 50,000 Saudi riyals (around $13, 300). The divorce happened months after hearing and also by the uproar created by International media and the human rights associations.

A big curse on those people whose thoughts are marred beyond recognition. I could not understand that state of mind that really wanted to get married to a girl child who hasn't attained her puberty. When someone makes a furore about it, they come up with their bogus excuses. A bud can blossom, only when it is allowed to grow.

*********************

" Kashmir has never been an integral part of India" - Arundhati Roy

Any careless words uttered on Kashmir issue can definitely rake up controversies with severe repercussions and that's what Arundhathi Roy's remark did. In response to these controversies, she wrote a letter in one of the leading newspapers of the country, where she threw light on the sad plight the Kashmir people has to endure and no Indian can dispute this. But this has got nothing to do with Arundhathi Roy's remark.

A decade back, the entire nation was disgraced due to the Babri Masjid demolition. It had its rippling effect in the neighbouring countries, especially Bangladesh. Indians and the whole world could not forget the horrendous Godhra carnage. We witnessed a series of terrorist’s attack which had a heavy toll on people's lives. It's saddening to say that dystopia exists in one of the biggest democracies in the world. The utter confusion has been hovering over country for a long period.

Religion has already wreaked its havoc. The imbroglio has become too much intense that it cannot be glossed over anymore. But the people who have been dwelling in those place never renounced their identity of being an Indian.Callous words can only add fuel to the feud. Hence, writers like Arundhathi Roy should at least show some sagacity at these crucial moments. People like her should make use of every possible opportunity that make a dent in people's lives rather than derailing the equilibrium of the country.

Freedom of Expression

I have a few questions for all you bloggers.

Should creative artists always be given the freedom to express their own ideas? Should government impose any restrictions on their ideas?
I thought about it a lot and this is what I have come up with and I also expect your valuable comments on this.

“Freedom of expression “is the most significant factor in creativity. If we put the creative artists in a pigeonhole and ask them to respond accordingly,will result in the ineffectiveness of their work. But what about today's chaotic, intricate and confused scenario?

Could granting the above mentioned liberty can pose severe problems. As the world is moving towards ruthlessness and where religion has started to have its absolute sway, whatever the creative artist produces will have its own repercussions. We have seen many instances where books, films, music, paintings falling into the trashes of controversies.

This reminds me of the controversy, M.F. Hussain had to encounter. He created nude paintings of hindu deities and mother India, hence is being deplored as an anti- hindu. He had come under fatal attacks from hindu fundamentalists and some of them went to the extent of vandalizing his paintings. He has been living in London and Dubai since then and now Qatar has come forward to grand him its citizenship. He is 95 year old who has a scant opportunity to return to his motherland, India.

Salman Rushdie's is yet another example. Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the spiritual leader of Iran issued a fatwa against him for his most controversial Satanic Verses. He called the book a blasphemy against Islam. Hence asked for his execution. It was only after the death of Ayattollah Ruhollah Khomeini, Rushdie could come out of his hiding and also from the police protection.

Taslima Nazreen's Lajja was banned. It describes the aftermath of Babri Masjid demolition in Bangladesh, which is the neighbouring country of India where the incident took place( theme was the persecution of a hindu family by muslims).She rose to fame due to her feminist views and criticisms of Islam. She always wrote about female oppression for which she always came under severe attack. She had to flee from her country, Bangladesh and was forced to live in many countries. For quite a while, she got asylum in Kolkata, India which she had to renounce due to the attack from Islamic fundamentalists. Currently, she is residing at Sweden.

Music also could not evade any criticism. Films are also not an exemption. These are just a few instances to show the acceptance of people as they are by people.

It is the creative artist who can give a new face to think. Curbing their freedom would be like shackling them. But what if the same efforts create a hubbub and disrupt the equilibrium in the society? A little discrepancy can wreak havoc.
So I always wonder what is needed to have an unbiased outlook.


I expect your valuable comments.