Letter to THE EDITOR: Rescheduling of school timings

Rescheduling of school timings

I, as a parent, welcome the much-awaited move. This urgency points to a grim situation so far as our environment is concerned. Post-COVID, the climatic condition of our state has changed at an alarming rate. Most of it is due to the unmindful cutting down of trees, which has depleted nature of its capacity to provide an umbrella for us. Perhaps trees need to be planted in mission mode everywhere, be it schools, private properties, offices, institutions, hospitals, roads, etc.

Then, only to a certain extent, can the alarming global rise in climate effects be minimized. Our generation is the first to witness the changes, and it is our responsibility to try to at least set some records straight for our ensuing generations. Technology cannot surpass nature. In fact, we need to learn to protect our nature from further deterioration. Otherwise, the price that we might have to pay will be priceless.

Purabi Pathak Barua

Lamb Road, Guwahati

Life is all about choices

Social media has changed our lives, for better or for worse, which is up for debate. A change that social media has brought is not talked about much. It is a change in the pattern of our decision-making. Earlier, before the tsunami of social media, decision-making or choosing the right thing for us was not as difficult as it is now. With the advent of social media and with our droopy heads glued to the screens of our mobiles and tablets, we get very little time for self-reflection, which is a matter of concern. Not being able to self-reflect can also lead to serious mental depression, as we will be bogged down by our choices in life. Life is all about choices; the better we make them, the happier we are. The sooner we realize this, the better.

Noopur Baruah,

Tezpur.

The need

to plant trees

The heat is currently burning the people of the state. As a result, our work lives have come to a standstill somewhere. There is also a lack of shade and mild air in many areas. But why this kind of environment, are we asking ourselves? The first question is, how many trees do we plant in a year? Many of us plant trees on World Environment Day. But how many have nurtured that sapling? In fact, Environment Day is a fashion; some NGOs celebrate World Environment Day by planting saplings to promote their organization among the people. The next day, however, there is no need for a section of people to take stock of the sapling. In fact, in the name of making various factories and roads in the throes of modernity, many of us have cut down trees instead of planting trees. So the heat is increasing day by day. If we have to protect ourselves from extreme heat, then we will have to plant trees as opposed to cutting them. Let’s be determined on this World Environment Day: we will make arrangements for the conservation of the sapling on Environment Day by not allowing it to die in the bud.

Sanjib Sagar Das,

Bhawanipur.

Safety first,

nothing more

The type of serial train accident that took place near Balasore in Odisha is unheard of in independent India. The Railways periodically come out with statements and statistics about modernizing the Indian Railways. However, any modernization without safety measures will come to naught, as evidenced by the mind-boggling loss of lives in Odisha. Is there a funding crisis affecting the railways? If not, where are the funds going? One is constrained to ask. There are ample reports of unutilized money for track renewal. There is no excuse for not upgrading tracks and increasing the number of up and down lines on important routes. Similarly, track maintenance is the rule; anything else is a crime. The training of linemen or gangmen shouldn’t be lax. In extreme summer and winter, tracks can weaken due to “rail fracture”; an eagle’s eye is required to consistently guard the tracks.

Another question is how a sophisticated electronic interlocking system can fail to direct a loco pilot to the correct line to traverse. As per reports, the loco pilots’ mistake is ruled out. What’s the use of modernization if such a simple signal mechanism can go wrong or be changed? Indian railway stations and station masters badly need a refresher course. It is not known to what extent the total overhaul of train coaches has come. No derailment or collision can occur without a combination of operating and mechanical errors. There were nearly 18000 train accidents in 2021, and derailments were the most common among them. The installation of the Automatic Train Protection (ATP) System, which prevents two trains on the same track from colliding, appears to have hit a roadblock. In total, the most important task of the Indian Railways is to safeguard the lives of passengers, nothing more, nothing less.

Dr Ganapathi Bhat,

gbhat13@gmail.com.