M A I L B A G

Urgent measures needed to check road accidents

Not a day passes without road accidents. A fatal case puts the affected family to the unthinkable grief which can be felt only by the aggrieved and none else.

The most suitable way of paying homage to the departed souls who died due to accidents and for having the system to avoid future road accidents would be to educate the vehicle drivers through the telephone numbers in Chandigarh Tribune. This can be done by not telling once or twice but regularly or say on daily basis. Repetition of the same information in a few words on daily basis would not only be cheaper, but also would become part of their thinking itself.

Day by day, the vehicles are increasing but the roads are limited. In order to regulate the traffic, the Government is doing maximum, but not much could be expected from the Government. About 99 per cent road accidents are due to negligence and overconfidence of the drivers.

Non-use of helmets by two wheeler drivers for which much has been said even by the PGI authorities is the main cause of head injury resulting in unfortunate death. Negligence on the part of PWD authorities for not making proper signal arrangements at night time when roads are under repair. Carpeting the roads but not raising the level of katcha side berms by not putting land fillings. Instances are not lacking when level difference vary even one feet or more. Land filling is the duty of the PWD contractor but sometimes they fill the land even after six months and by that time many accidents particularly at night time would take place.

If high sounding horns are not allowed under the Motor Vehicles Act, why are these allowed to be used on vehicles? Why suitable action is not taken against manufacturers? Day by day, the voltage of head lights of vehicles is increasing, thereby blinding the opposite drivers at night. Lot of research is going on but no safety against high beam lights has been evolved so far.

BABU RAM DHIMAN, Pinjore

Less harmful This refers to the news item "A healthy way to smoke" (Nov 10). Smoke, even if it is from incence or holy fires, cannot be considered healthy, at least to the lungs, leave aside puffing it directly in the form of a cigarette with any healthy ingredient. The so-called healthy cigarettes may be devoid of nicotine but definitely have high carbondioxide contents, besides vaporised alkaloids of its ingredients, whose usefulness and therapeutic value or de-addiction virtue is doubtful in the absence of any laboratory trials or scientific proof. Whenever anything burns, it consumes oxygen and produces carbondioxide, and it is the oxygen that is required by the lungs and not the carbondioxide. The use of such debatable consumer products by film stars is a trade gimmick and a reputed paper like The Tribune should desist from publishing and indirectly advertising such products. The title of this news should have been "A less harmful way...." instead of "A healthy way...." DR PAWAN DVIWEDI, Sujanpur

Anti-encroachment drives

Every now and then the Chandigarh Housing Board, PUDA and HUDA undertake anti-encroachment drives without any notice giving details of the types of encroachments. Almost everytime these drives create scenes of a battlefield between the enforcement staff and the encroachers. This ugly and uncivilised situation arises partly due to the unamended, ambiguous and not publicly notified and displayed laws.

Most of the residents are ignorant about the use of the area between the inner inter-lane roads and the front boundary wall. In view of the present day need for outside and inside parking of vehicles and for a green-shield for protection from dust pollution from the narrow broken roads, the authorities should amend the laws to avoid any kind of social unpleasentness.

DR A. R. CHAUHAN, Panchkula

Nursing officers

Apropos Wg Cdr (retd) C.L. Sehgal's letter (Oct 23), probably the retired officer has not been able to make out the spirit of Capt Simi Soni's letter (Oct 11) and lacks exposure to the status of Nursing Officers in the Army. Captain Soni has compared the uniform worn by the medical officers with that of safai karamcharis to clarify on the mistaken identity as was conceived by the designers of the new uniform pattern for MNS officers and has not treated them on a par.

All nursing officers are enlisted in the "official gazette" and are commissioned officers in the Army vide Ordinance No XXX of 1943 and all nursing officers are entitled to salutes vide the Army Order 353173. Perhaps some officers, both serving and retired, do not accept the facts as they get along by their ego rather than wisdom.

Major K. RAJESWARI, Jalandhar