Sir — No amount of awareness campaigns seems to suffice when it comes to willing the authorities to act in favour of the environment. It was recently revealed that in the last 10 years, Goa’s forest department approved 99.3 per cent of all applications for the felling of trees. Some reforestation drives had taken place, but there are no data on the survival of the trees. Only two years ago, Goa was known to have 60 per cent forest cover — it ranked fifth in the country in this regard. It is likely that the authorities have now sacrificed Goa’s greenery for monetary profit. This must be stopped at once.

Gargi Chaudhury,
Mumbai

Take action

Sir — The shooting of four unarmed people in Sitalkuchi in Cooch Behar by Central Industrial Security Force personnel guarding a polling booth reminds one of the Jallianwala Bagh massacre in the pre-Independence era (“Shamed”, April 13). According to reports, a 15-year-old boy was beaten at the village market, without provocation, by a jawan of the Central forces. This appears to have triggered protests against the jawans, leading to the shots being fired. These armed personnel, who are supposed to be trained in industrial and airport security, could have easily controlled the situation by using batons to disperse the crowd or firing shots into the air. But they reportedly shot at the upper bodies of the people in the mob, resulting in this untoward incident.

The administration, which is under the direct command of the Election Commission, took to the usual tact of blaming the crowd — it levelled charges against the mob of trying to snatch away the guns from the CISF personnel. Had the crowd attacked the guards, why is there still no evidence of any injury caused to them?

With four more rounds of elections still left, the EC should not waste time in discouraging security personnel from using firearms and promote the use of other modes of mob control in order to prevent any further loss of life.

Hira Lal De,
Hooghly

Sir — One would think that the CISF personnel are trained to defuse difficult situations without resorting to opening fire. But the incident in Cooch Behar proves they are not. The perception that the EC and the Central forces deployed in the state are not as politically neutral as they should be does not seem too far from reality any more, and this erodes their institutional credibility.

The EC is supposed to ensure a level playing field for all parties and apply rules uniformly. But many of its decisions going in favour of the Bharatiya Janata Party make it look like an arm of the ruling regime — this makes one wonder, could the EC have scheduled the polling in eight phases at the BJP’s behest in order to suit its campaign plan? The task of safeguarding democracy is better served if the EC acts in a non-partisan way.

M.K. Gandhi had taught that the means should be as fair as the end. But if what the BJP has been doing in Bengal is anything to go by, then its end of wresting power from the Trinamul Congress would seem to justify whatever means it adopts, be it communal polarization, misuse of institutions, splurging on canvassing or perhaps even unleashing violence. It would thus be an inversion of truth to think that the BJP adheres to Gandhian philosophy.

G. David Milton,
Maruthancode, Tamil Nadu

Sir — As if the death of four people were not bad enough, leaders of the BJP are now issuing threats of similar violence. Will the EC act against these leaders?

Anjana Gupta,
Howrah

The government as well as the local administration have been creating awareness about the situation and requesting people to wear masks. But if people take such alerts lightly and ignore them, they are putting themselves in harm’s way. The second surge of the pandemic is proving to be deadlier than the first. One cannot be lax in one’s approach any more; norms must be followed strictly. File picture

Be careful

Sir — It is criminal to not follow Covid-19 protocols in a public space given the spike in cases across the country (“Metro commuters flout mask mandate”, April 12). The government as well as the local administration have been creating awareness about the situation and requesting people to wear masks. But if people take such alerts lightly and ignore them, they are putting themselves in harm’s way. The second surge of the pandemic is proving to be deadlier than the first. One cannot be lax in one’s approach any more; norms must be followed strictly.

Bal Govind,
Noida