Mumbai is a time bomb as far as Coronavirus is concerned
Overpopulated cities including Mumbai has to be very cautious as Coronovirus would otherwise prove catastrophic and a time bomb on the city. The spitting habits of people need to be stopped and this would only happen if people are penalized with fines and arrests. Hygiene is very important when it comes to fighting COVID-19 and people need to be educated with learning programmes.
Slums are pockets where the disease can spread like wildfire. Illegal hutments need to be evacuated and displaced to other locations so that the entire city is not put to risk.
Chief Minister should declare a medical emergency and curfew at areas that are at high risk. Labs to test Coronovirus as well as quarantine facilities should be in place so that they can be used whenever the situation warrants. Citizens too should cooperate with government as the hardship encountered is for their own safety.
S.N. Kabra
Hang Nirbhaya convicts
Despite the highest court in the country having confirmed the death sentence for this heinous crime, the four accused in the Nirbhaya gang-rape and murder case have been happily filing applications all over and that too one by one, only to merely delay and derail the due process of law.
All this misuse of the judiciary and precious scant court time is absolutely impermissible. May be, it’s high time the government amends the law to ensure that punishment for such grievous crimes should be extremely fair but yet very swift. There needs to be a deterrent to the law breakers.
Will it need that a child of a ruling politician is raped and murdered for the government to awaken to this reality that justice delayed is justice denied? The four Nirbhaya rapists (Mukesh Kumar Singh, Vinay Kumar Sharma, Pawan Kumar Gupta and Akshay Kumar Singh) should be hanged till death at the earliest so that other rapists may learn a lesson from this incident and not treat women like sex objects in order to satisfy their carnal desires. But what about the juvenile who has raped Nirbhaya too. Why he was given just three years imprisonment and left with just a light warning? Besides giving him a light warning and three years of imprisonment, why has he been hidden in an isolated place where no one knows where he is now? Is there an answer to this? How much money has he bribed the court to let him off with just a light warning and only three years of imprisonment? Justice should be given to Nirbhaya’s parents so that her soul may rest in peace.
Jubel D’Cruz
Impose ban on spitting in public places
In the wake of the deadly contagious disease COVID-19 it is high time the central and state government implement strict prohibitory orders banning spitting in public. Though some States and municipal corporations in India did come out with severe penalty and punishment for public spitting it seems the law is only in the papers as public spitting continues. There are people who out of ignorance and lack of public unawareness spit in public which is unpleasant, unacceptable and antisocial. It is a filthy habit that can spread germs and cause health issues. It is the responsibility of all the citizens to be aware of health issues caused due to unawareness and ignorance and therefore they have to maintain and follow a hygienic way of living. Levying penalty and punishment alone will not help in reducing people spitting in public. Educational institutions, firms, organisations, local administration and each and every citizen will have to avoid this dirty and disgusting habit. Let us spread and follow the message of healthy living.
M Pradyu
MU exams postponed
Better council prevailed and the Mumbai University exams are postponed as expected. This follows repeated appeals by parents, teachers and students. So, all the semester examinations of the Mumbai University scheduled to begin from 23 March have been cancelled and postponed till after March 31 due to the Corona virus outbreak. Thus over 60000 students escaped the risk of attending MU exams and thereby exposed to dreadful Coronavirus at this crucial hour. The situation will be reviewed before the stipulated date and a fresh declaration may be issued depending on the COVID-19 situation.
Chitra Rugmini
(The views expressed by the author in the article are his/her own.)