Editor,
It was, indubitably, tragic news to know that in this April, the ‘cruelestmonth of the year’ as a renowned writer, T.S. Eliot, has aptly called it, two fatal incidents of mushroom poisoning had occurred in two villages of East Khasi Hills, viz., at Mawsawa near Mawsynram and another at Nongpriang not far off from Sohra respectively. In Mawsawa village, however, the death toll reported in the wake of consuming wild mushroom, locally knows as ‘Tit Kur Miaw’ mounted to six. It must have been acutely traumatic for the unfortunate household to have lost both the parents besides the other four near and dear ones at that.
It is a common at this time of the year preceding the onset of Monsoon to see wild mushrooms run riot in full bloom across the hilly terrains of Khasi Jaintia Hills and people young and old go mushroom plucking to supplement their food menu besides adding to the taste. Besides being loaded with health food vitamins and proteins, none can question the exotic delicacy of mushrooms but the same is also fraught with life threating dangers as it is generally believed that such edible fungi might conceal a concoction of deadly poison spewed out by venomous snakes or other equally lethal creatures, thereby making them hazardous for human consumption.
However, the popular belief, of so called serpent’s poison viz-a-viz mushroom death might be scientifically proven if only the powers that be direct the nodal agencies like the ICAR, NEHU, Botanical Survey of India, NEIGRIHMS etc conduct a meticulous research on such mushrooms and submit a final analytical report on how to avoid selective types of mushrooms that contain toxic substances. Write-ups in local newspapers, especially the vernacular ones with pictures of poisonous variety could go a long way to avert such tragic incidents in future. Incidentally the Department of Agriculture, Meghalaya has long instituted an office at Upper Shillong called Mushroom Development Centre which is currently headed by a lady officer. The latter could have been shouldered with responsibility, besides her other official assignments,at convenient times to organize an outreach field programme to create awareness of the dos and don’ts of wild mushroom consumption. This would prevent such tragic incidents as mushroom poisoning. Given that for any casualty in any part of this land of Hynniewtrep, the death toll does not sound for the ill-fated family only but it also tolls for me as so suggestively expressed by poet, John Donne, in one of his poems.
Statements cautioning people not to consume anything plucked from anywhere as reiterated by our Health Minister, A L Hek in the aftermath of the above mushroom poisoning incident does not instil much confidence among the public. What is called for is to ensure that result-oriented actions are taken, thus saving precious humans lives.
Yours etc.,
Jerome Diengdoh,
Shillong-2
Untenable comments of DC Shillong
Editor,
Apropos the news items, “LPG crisis in parts of city” (ST April 21, 2016) and “Evasion of dues led to LPG crisis” (ST April 23, 2016) regarding shortages in supply of subsidized LPG cylinders by Longkmie Gas Agency (LGA) and the show cause notice that the DC (Supply) asserted is being issued to this errant agency (ST April 26, 2016) is turning out to be a big farce. The biggest farce is that the DC (Supply) himself is not fully aware of the ground realities. His other officials in the Supply Department were also caught unawares as reported by your esteemed daily. The latest version of the DC (Supply) only exposes the complete lack of awareness in the Department. In this game of passing the buck we the consumers are made to suffer.
Also, the latest statement of the LGA in-charge, Anita Gurung, is ridiculous. She attributes the LPG scarcity to Bihu celebrations and the Assam Assembly elections. If this is the reason then how come other gas agencies in Shillong have reported no such scarcity? Why is only LGA at the receiving end? This is a total farce. LGA has admitted that the agency caters to nearly 7500 consumers, which is too much for it to cater to. Greater Laban is a big area and none knows it better than the DC (Supply) himself that there is an urgent need for another agency to not only meet the demands but also to ensure timely delivery of cylinders. At present, the LGA is unable to deliver the quota of 12 subsidized cylinders in a year to its customers due to some scarcity or the other. Hope the authorities wake up and educate themselves of the real situation.
Yours etc.,
- Lyngdoh
Shillong – 4