Andhra Pradesh

Mysterious fire

The news item ‘Mysterious fire haunts Utlapally villagers’ in the The Hindu, dated October 7, reminds me of a similar incident at Vadkapalli in Karimnagar district in July 2007. This incident raised furore as even wet clothes were reportedly caught fire, and some huts also were also burnt resulting in the death of a woman. Questions about follow up action by the police or whether any rational bodies gave any serious thought to the incident remain unanswered.

However I made some enquiries and learnt from the villagers that the issue was closed assuming that some miscreants would have used phosphorous clandestinely. However the incident did not occur again and it remained a mystery. It is imperative for the police and Jana Vignana bodies besides the scientists to dispel superstitious beliefs and fallacies related to witchcraft which torment the village folk as much as terrorism does.

P Satyanarayana,

Hanamkonda

Yerragudi in Kurnool district is famous for emperor Ashoka rock edict. It is situated 13 kms away from Gooty railway station in Anantapur district. This place has historical significance. Three kms from Yerragudi there is a small village called Jonnagiri also known as Suvrangiri which was once the provincial capital of Mauryan empire in South India. If scientific excavations are conducted, interesting findings about the great empire may be discovered. This 2,000-year-old rock edict needs lot of care and improvement. Due to nature’s ravages, the script on the rock edict is not visible properly.

The calcium content of the rock has caused enough damage to the edict. There is need to erect an explanatory board to educate an ordinary visitor about the contents and significance of the edict.

I appeal to the Archelogical Survey of India to take necessary steps to preserve the only ‘rock edict’ for future generations.

Dr Abdul Khadar,

Kurnool

This is with reference to the news report ‘Crackdown on school buses’ The Hindu dated September 28. It is commendable to note that the Transport Department has decided to enforce certain guidelines on schools with regard to usage of school buses. The guidelines maintain that school buses should have the school name and telephone number written in the buses.

The bus should have first-aid box, fire extinguisher, skilled drivers, hand rails and hand brakes. But the guidelines appear to be directed at private institutions- run schools and college buses.

But there no such bus facility to students who study in Government schools or colleges. Most of them, especially from rural areas do not have proper transport.

They depend largely on jam-packed auto-rickshaws and sometimes trucks also. The Government and the Transport Department should give some thought to these students also.

G. Jagannadh,

Anantapur

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