Save Aarey forest
As a resident of Mumbai for the last 60 years, I am not against the Metro car shed being constructed at the Aarey colony site in Goregaon because we all know how vastly it would improve our transport system. However, all I want is to stop the trees in the forest area from being cut down because it has been there for hundreds of years and a lot of tribal people (Adivasis) who worship the trees live there.
Felling of trees for the sake of constructing a car shed is not a wise move. The trees must be saved by all means because like the cow, it is sacred to some people.
Jubel D’Cruz
Flag bearers of BJP need to end saffron stalemate
The mandate in Maharashtra state elections is for BJP-Sena and it is up to the flag bearers to come to a conclusion and break the stalemate. Instead of making the people to suffer, the coalition partners should play a positive role and see that there is no further delay in forming the government. There are pressing problems pending and it is up to the high command of these two parties to come to a conclusion. They should be able to honor the mandate of the people in the best way possible instead of just buying time. Sena should adhere to coalition dharma and the Maharashtra deadlock should come to an end soon.
Krishnan Maniam
Farokh Engineer should respect the fairer sex
Farokh Engineer may have been a flamboyant debonair cricketer of his times but he has no business to ridicule Virat Kohli’s actress wife Anushka Sharma in public. His comments about selectors serving tea to Anushka during a World Cup game in England was in bad taste. Serving tea is courtesy and Anushka though has denied the claim. Engineer has made a mountain out of a molehill and should apologise to Anushka Sharma in public.
Virat and Anushka are both celebrities in their own world and both have a vast fan following. Targeting them for cheap publicity is unfair and unethical. Celebrities too have a personal life and let us all respect and give them that space. Farokh Engineer loves to be in the news but the former India wicketkeeper should realise that modern day cricket is stressful as well as professional and he should respect the privacy of fellow cricketers.
S.N. Kabra
Build colony for accommodating Central govt ministers
It refers to proposed plan of new Central Vista in New Delhi for construction of new most-modern and spacious buildings for Parliament, Central Secretariat, office and residence for Prime Minister, all between Rashtrapati Bhawan and India Gate retaining present heritage buildings of Sansad Bhawan, North Block and South Block as Museum of Democracy, The Making of India and India at Seventy-Five respectively.
But at the same time, a colony should also be developed nearby on lines of New Moti Bagh for building accommodations for all the ministers in Central Government at one consolidated place for reducing expenses on security and reducing traffic-congestion and man-hours in ministers going to their offices and to attend Parliament.
Long-term planning should also include construction of more multi-storey accommodations to shift residences of all Parliamentarians in multi-storey buildings rather than providing accommodation to many of them in extra-ordinary spacious government-bungalows.
Large number of such vacated government-bungalows can be developed in five-starred resorts to be given on rental to desiring ones including to foreigners as guest-houses or vocational luxurious stay on commercial basis.
Subhash Chandra Agrawal
(The views expressed by the author in the article are his/her own.)
