Sir — It is shocking that the closing doors of a metro train trapped a man’s hand as he was trying to get in, dragging him for almost 60 metres along the Park Street metro station to his death (“Emergency calls by passengers fail”, July 14). One is forced to ask how the metro could start if the gap between the doors was more than the standard tolerance limit of 15 millimetres — which must have been the case if a person’s hand was stuck between the doors. A month ago, an inherent fault in one of the new rakes delivered by Integral Coach Factory in Perambur — the very kind which the deceased, Sajal Kumar Kanjilal, tried to board — developed a snag, throwing the city’s lifeline out of gear for over four hours.

It is intriguing that ICF rakes are operated only in Calcutta. The metro authorities must ensure that the rakes that are plied are of the highest quality. A life has been lost and responsibility for it needs to be apportioned. Was the motorman at fault or was it a technical glitch? Either way, Metro Railways must get to the bottom of this and make sure such an incident does not recur.

Bidyut Kumar Chatterjee,

Faridabad

Sir — In the report, “Why you seldom get an AC Metro” (May 11), it was reported that rakes manufactured by ICF could not be made operational owing to a fear of snags and malfunctioning doors. Taking cue from this, I urged the government in the recent discussion on the budget in the Rajya Sabha to take corrective measures, but in vain. It is evident that the Metro Railways authorities did not take cognizance of the report published in The Telegraph. Hence, this tragedy is undoubtedly a case of criminal negligence.

Sukhendu Sekhar Ray,

Calcutta

Winner’s luck

Sir — Congratulations to England for winning the cricket World Cup after 44 years (“All about boundaries, margins & some luck”, July 15). It seemed unlikely that England would make it after they lost successive matches against Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Australia. But they bounced back. In the semi-final, they defeated Australia and stormed into the final.

In the hard-fought final, England won the Cup by virtue of having scored more boundaries. But they did manage to play as a team and thus are the deserving winners. The contributions of Jason Roy, Jos Buttler, Jonny Bairstow and Jofra Archer are substantial. Eoin Morgan must be lauded for his able captaincy.

Indranil Sanyal,

Calcutta

Sir — It was an epic World Cup final at Lord’s. Alas, New Zealand lost to England after scoring the same number of runs because they scored fewer boundaries. There should be another method of deciding the winner in such circumstances.

Interestingly, Martin Guptill, who ran out M.S. Dhoni with his direct hit during the semi-finals, was the reason for England scoring six runs off a throw that missed its mark. That was the turning point for England. Congratulations to the English captain, Eoin Morgan, and his team.

N. Mahadevan,

Chennai

Sir — The final of the 2019 World Cup was one of the most fascinating days in the history of cricket. The fate of the Cup came to be decided by one key super-over. Fascinatingly, the English and the Kiwis were tied in their scores even in this. In the end, the number of boundaries — this is random — tipped the scales in favour of England.

Yet, even after a defeat for such a flimsy reason, Kane Williamson, the captain of New Zealand, had a smile on his face. The Black Caps accepted defeat with amazing calmness. They might not have won the Cup, but they did win people’s hearts.

Soumya Mishra,

Jamshedpur

Sir — The basis on which England was declared the winner of World Cup 2019 is unjustified. The scores of both teams were tied. But since England lost all their wickets at 241 runs and New Zealand scored the same at a loss of eight wickets, the latter should have been declared champions.

Sunil Kumar Pal,

London, UK

Early start

Sir — Durga Puja will take place in October this year. Hearteningly, Calcutta Police has started making preparations to manage crowds quite early. Police officials have already met the organizers of popular Pujas to ascertain that rules are not flouted while constructing pandals. But the desired result will not be achieved unless the Puja organizers work in tandem with the police. They must resist the temptation to win the tag of Calcutta’s ‘biggest Puja’. The safety of the pandal hoppers must be prioritized. After all, none can forget that a stampede-like situation led to the closure at Deshapriya Park in 2015.

P. Banerjee,

Calcutta