Health camps
are needed
Every person aspires to have good health. One of the signs of human development is the good health or physical well-being of people. India has a great number of far-flung villages which are less accessible to the general public. Goa too has many remote villages.
Due to lack of means of travel or poverty, people in villages avoid going to towns or cities to have regular health checkup. It is also a well-known fact that some of them are unaware of the facilities available at the nearby health care centres. Therefore, organizing health camps as it was done in Canacona recently, is one of the ways which would help the ordinary villagers to become aware of the early symptoms of any underlying health issues.
It was heartening to read as reported, that many cases of serious illnesses were detected and the patients were advised to do further tests. It was a good initiative by the Goa Medical College and Hospital and other collaborators to organize such a medical camp in one of the villages. General public in villages must be made aware of these facilities when they are available at their doorstep. Such camps will certainly go a long way in improving people’s health and thereby increasing the longevity of women and men especially in villages.
Rui Pereira,
Navelim
Dedicated hyena
sanctuary must
Hyenas, including the striped one, are animals that are consistently scoffed at. These endangered creatures have literally no dedicated sanctuaries in India. These thrive on grasslands; meticulous planning to house them cannot be stressed more. In a new development, the Karnataka government has planned a hyena sanctuary near Belagavi district's Gokak.
It can be recalled that it was the Karnataka government that started an exclusive sanctuary for wolves in the state not long ago. Hyenas are carnivorous mammals that are misunderstood in the ecosystem. Being apex predators, their vitality in fine balancing the ecosystem can be gauged only by an ardent wildlife connoisseur. They brilliantly adapt themselves as they can go without water for days.
Known to feed on leftovers, birds and lizards as well, they can hoodwink their prey base with ease. With a whoop or grunt or groan, the fast moving hyenas, that can reach upto a speed of 60 km per hour, can knock the living daylights out of ferocious animals like lions which are afraid of a pack of hyenas.
However, habitat fragmentation, non-availability of carcasses and speeding vehicles on highways have threatened the hyenas besides poaching and competition for shelter. Also, decrease in deciduous forests and grasslands are a cause for worry.
Ganapathi Bhat, Akola
Bypass needed
at Chinchinim
Right from 1988, the Chinchinim residents have carried on a silent but consistent campaign for genuine redress. The acquisition was for two lanes and has been completed and the residents then were paid a petty sum of Rs 13 per sq m, later enhanced to Rs 100 for those few who contested the issue. Houses were partially destroyed, residents displaced and compensation was peanuts.
Now arguably the same MDR has been turned into 6 lanes with a flyover adding to the woes of inhabitants. The late chief minister Manohar Parrikar had demanded flagging off 3 alternatives to select the best and least damaging one. At the request of the residents, a bypass was proposed and surveyed, but never incorporated into the plan inspite of assurances. It involved no demolition of the houses and was passing through the village.
The cost of a flyover and construction of the bypass was indicated to be very cost effective. The authorities till date are elusive about it informing that
plans in this area are under consideration.
Further, there is ample scope of expansion and the freezing of scarce land upto 40 metres on either side is the greatest hindrance. Captain Viriato along with the village panchayat has taken up the issue recently.
Nelson Lopes, Chinchinim
Salaried class living in
hope, dying in despair
This refers to the assurances of our Finance Minister, Nirmala Sitharaman that the living standard would see steepest rise in coming decades. No doubt, it took 75 years to reach a per capita income of $2730 as per the IMF predictions and it will take only five years to add another $2000. Well, we Indians do live only on hope and continue to believe the false promises of political leaders, both in States and the Centre. But our hopes get shattered election after election - whoever may come to power in States and at the Centre. We are still waiting for the credit of Rs 15 lakhs in our bank accounts which our Prime Minister promised on the eve of general elections in 2014. Similar is the case with the State Chief Ministers. Ironically, the worst affected are the honest taxpayers, 90 % of whom belong to the salaried middle class and pensioners, who still survive on fervent hope!
N. Mahadevan,
Chennai
Stray dogs create
reign of terror
Travelling at night has turned into a nightmare at Guirim as a pack of stray dogs keep terrorising and attacking two wheeler riders here. The pack fans out near the Assumption chapel and stalks every passerby under the cover of darkness and then give riders hot chase.
The rider is unaware and often ends up in the road that is plagued with potholes. The pack then mercilessly ends up biting the hapless victims who have no one to rescue them at that time of the night. The victims are often those proceeding home after night shift. A couple of days back, a young man proceeding home after duty was knocked off his bike and attacked mercilessly by the pack. The wounded young man had to be lifted and shifted home by good Samaritans who rescued him in the nick of time.
The Guirim panchayat should call on the Animal Rescue team and see to it that the canines are caught and sent to the shelter at the earliest. Leaving such canines to multiply by the road side is dangerous as precious lives can be lost. At the same time one has to go through the painful agony of taking post bite rabies vaccines by wasting time and money. The PWD should see to it
that the road here is immediately repaired. Let better
counsel prevail.
Xavier Fernandes,
Mapusa