Editor,
Further to my letters published on February 18 & May 15, 2017 in your esteemed daily and a couple of letters from other concerned citizens, I thank the concerned authorities for restoring sanity in traffic routes in and around Don Bosco Square, Upland and Red Hill Road.
Yours etc.,
Mohitosh Chakravarty,
Shillong- 3,
On using school buses
Editor,
It is with a great sigh of relief that the news about the restoration of the old traffic rule towards Don Bosco was received by all and sundry, particularly those who have to come up from Jacob’s ladder to drop their kids to school. The Shillong Traffic Police (STP) must be commended for having the courage of conviction to alter a rule that was not working instead of remaining adamant. For parents, having to drop and pick up their children every day is not only a pain but also a drain on their time and resources and as has been mentioned by your daily times without number, this is the only state where schools cannot be disciplined by the Government for using school buses despite the fact that private vehicles by the thousands are actually choking up the streets of Shillong during school timings. Perhaps enforcement of this rule is not within the ambit of the Police but if they are facing the brunt of the traffic jams day in and day out should they not make a case with the district administration for enforcing the use of school buses by all schools?
It is a fact that law and order are not a priority in Meghalaya and people can get away doing what they like. And it is ironic that the elite Christian institutions like Loreto Convent, St Edmund’s School, St Mary’s School, St Anthony’s school et al are the very ones that don’t use school buses and thereby encourage a culture of arrogance and one-up-manship among the students. Nowadays, students compete with each other about the kind of vehicles their parents own. Then parents have to steal time from their respective work places to pick up their children in the afternoon. The above schools have only encouraged this ugly trend. Instead of building character and the culture of social equality, these schools are destroying the foundation of tribal values which believe in egalitarianism. By depriving school children the use of school buses the schools are also not allowing them to develop the social skills which are needed for children to build healthy relationships. Perhaps it is high time that parents unite and demand their rights from the Government and the school authorities.
Yours etc.,
M Lyngdoh,
Via email
Dwindling bee population
Editor,
Native bee populations across different ecosystems are demonstrating an alarming decline with many species being threatened with extinction due to over application of toxic pesticides in agriculture, pollution, climate change and global warming, parasitic diseases, colony collapse, lack of nectar foraging plants and suitable habitats. Conservation of native bee populations is extremely important from the perspective of agriculture as they are responsible for pollinating several important food and industrial crops. This can have direct and indirect impacts on global crop production, food security and irreparable damage to vulnerable ecosystems. Establishing suitable bee habitats or bee sanctuaries can easily provide extended bee foraging period as well as quality nesting and foraging opportunities for native bee species and other insect pollinators (honey bees, moths, butterflies and some species of beetles and flies) to thrive in these specially created natural or artificial bee habitats. Pollinator mixes comprising of annual/ /biennial/perennial bee-friendly, native wildflowers and/or annual/perennial legumes along with warm/cool season forage or native grasses can have help in establishing suitable bee habitats in different agro-climatic regions. Pollinator mixes comprising of early, mid and late flowering plant species could be used for extending the bee foraging periods across the seasons to provide a steady and continuous supply of nectar and pollens for different bee species. Diversity of the plant mixes will attract wider diversity of bees and help them to survive under the prevailing conditions. No toxic pesticides should be sprayed in these bee habitats to avoid any form of chemical contamination. Creating artificial bee sanctuaries by using suitable pollinator mixes can help native bees and other pollinator insects to survive and coexist successfully in nature and secure the future of agriculture and global food security.
Yours etc.,
Saikat Kumar Basu
Canada T1J 4B3