Star power: The game of hockey that has given the country a rich haul of medals in international competitions is now a dying sport (Star power, dribble dreams, August 9). But the custodians of the game still seem reluctant to take innovative steps to revive the sport. We are regularly defeated by countries that started playing hockey long after us and many youngsters don’t know the names of legends like Dhyan Chand. Shah Rukh Khan’s Chak De! India could change all that and provide the game a much-needed boost.

Apropos the report “No aid in three days”, August 11, it is very sad that a barely conscious man in his mid-60s with blood smeared over his face lay near the gate of Medical College and Hospital for three days without being attended to. He would have definitely breathed his last there if journalists did not take pictures of him in that state. No one would have even found out that his name was Joydeb Dutta and he was from adjacent Sealdah.

Several doctors, nurses and other hospital employees must have passed by the man while entering and leaving the hospital but they did not help him in any way. Is this inhuman behaviour or simply negligence? Isn’t it the first priority of doctors to attend to a sick person? Haven’t they taken an oath to do so?

If Dutta survives, it will be due to the efforts of the media and not of the doctors. The minister of health needs to think long and hard about the attitude of the doctors practising in the state. All those who chose to look the other way as Dutta suffered should be punished.

Sukumar Ghosh,
Mukundapur

Apropos the report “Cremation service through decades”, August 8, it is wonderful that the Hindu Satkar Samity has highlighted the risks of carrying corpses in commercial vehicles at its platinum jubilee celebration programme.

Many middle-class people have no alternative but to hire a truck or a Matador van to take their loved one to the burning ghat. That a body secretes a malignant liquid is unknown to most vehicle-owners. I doubt whether the few who are aware wash the vehicles properly after a trip to the crematorium.

The government should ensure availability of more hearses. The charges should not beyond the capacity of even the poor.

Ratan Kumar Halder,
Behala

Green guard

The state government’s attempts to crack down on sound and plastic pollution two months ahead of the autumn festivities is welcome (Glare on plastic, sound pollution, August 8). There is no reason why plastic packets cannot be replaced with paper bags. Those who make plastic bags will, of course, be affected. They need to be provided alternative means of livelihood for smooth implementation of the ban.

As for illegal crackers, vigilance on Puja days will be of little use. The crackers should not be available in the first place. The factories that manufacture the illegal crackers should be shut down.

Dinabandhu Mukherjee,
Behala

Apropos “Wet woes on misery Monday”, August 14, the city once again was paralysed by overnight rain on the first working day of the week. Unfortunately, we do not have the option of even turning to the mayor. The last time Calcutta was waterlogged, he pointed to other cities and defended the incompetence of his loyal staff. The waterlogging situation is worsening every year due to lack of foresight of the civic body and its unwillingness to work. Stuck with a mayor like this, the chief minister should bring back hand-pulled rickshaws to the city streets.

Sunil Banerjee,
VIP Road

Apropos the report “Outlet shifts blast injured to clinic”, August 14, McDonald’s cannot ignore its moral obligation of arranging for the treatment of a labourer on contract who was injured in the blast. It is unfortunate that he was left behind on the floor of the emergency ward of SSKM Hospital and not shifted to Woodlands with the other three injured workers. I was happy with McDonald’s announcement of compensation for the family of the pedestrian killed in the blast but the company’s treatment of the injured worker has left me disappointed.

Manju Sengupta,
JL Nehru Road

Apropos the report “Anguish, anger for Aftab”, August 14, it is unfortunate that Aftab was killed by the McDonald’s blast right at the doorstep of his home. Mysterious are the ways of fate. No compensation can make good the bereaved family’s loss.

Govinda Bakshi,
Budge Budge

Stuck by strike

Apropos “Bandh? Get eyes checked: CM”, August 8, only the wearer knows where the shoe pinches. The thousands who had to travel to or from the city on August 8 can tell the CM exactly what’s wrong even with failed bandhs. Bandh is a useless method of protest but they still get called.

B.N. Bose,
Dum Dum Park

The compassion and the generosity that the administration is showing towards Rashid Khan is touching (Top cop eases Rashid release, August 9). The men in uniform will, no doubt, take note of good behaviour by their other convicted friends and arrange for their early release. The Bowbazar don will soon celebrate his release with appropriate pomp and please his well-wishers in the administration suitably before taking charge of his satta empire or branching into other forms of crime.

Nishith Mitra,
Mahinagore

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