DJ Venkatesh
Diglipur, Mar 15: Saline water supply through APWD pipeline network has become a cause of concern for more than 8000 villagers of different hamlets in Diglipur Sub Division. According to reports, the areas affected are Madhupur, Laxmipur and DB Gram Panchayats where potable water contaminated by sea water is being supplied for the last few days.
According to reports, the source of drinking water supplied to these villages by APWD pipelines is a storage tank located at Moris Tikrey. Water is pumped from a Ring Well constructed by APWD near Madhai Murshid house to the tank from where the potable water is supplied to various houses in the villages.
Water from some running sources supplied through Bhasadek village have also receded in the recent days, according to reports.
“To the shock of several villagers, salty water was found pouring from taps installed in their homes for the last few days. The water supplied by APWD pipelines is absolutely unfit for consumption and may cause diseases. The APWD should take immediate steps to address the concern,” said some villagers of Madhupur.
Speaking to Andaman Sheekha, the Pradhan of Laxmipur Gram Panchayat informed that the APWD Junior Engineer of the area said that high tide in the sea nearby may be the reason behind contamination of the ground water resources.
“The JE has suggested people to refrain from using the polluted water for few days and that APWD is take prompt remedial measures,” the Pradhan added.

Port Blair, March 15: Unwanted delay in the operation of X-Ray Baggage Machine at Chennai Airport on Monday made the passengers of Chennai-Port Blair sector to wait in the queue for a long time.
According to the passengers, the check in counter opened at 0600hrs,but there was no passenger at the counter. Almost all were restlessly waiting for X-ray of their baggage. At last when Security check began,the check in counter was over crowded with passengers. Usually the baggage X-ray begins at least half an hour before the check in counter opens. This helps in smooth flow of passengers.
Sources further said that when the crowd expresses displeasure, the Airlines Staffs started the operation of all the check in counters, just five minutes before the flight, which caused unrest among passengers.
The check in counter usually closes 45 minutes before departure. Under these circumstances many new passengers are unable to complete all the formalities on time. In a big terminal like that of Chennai, GoAIR initially started check in with two counters when the crowded increased they opened one more counter.
If at initial stage itself they would have operated three counters, the mad rush of passengers could have been avoided. Check in of around 150 passengers within a short period had only helped in increasing the blood pressure of fliers who opted for GoAIR, when many other options were available.

Ganeshan & Francis Ekka
Baratang, Mar 14: A forest worker of Baratang Range today narrowly escaped death as he survived an elephant attack miraculously.
According to reports, the Forest Worker, Dhiren Bepari, S/o Sapan Bepari, was sitting on the road side after forest works this morning, when suddenly the black Elephant, Yash, came from nowhere and started chasing him.
When Dhiren tried to run, Yash Elephant caught him but he could not cause much injuries to Dhiren, as Dhiren was trapped between both the tusks of the Elephant. The Elephant dragged him for sometimes and when other Mahouts called him, the Elephant dropped Dhiren on the ground and left the place. Later Dhiren realized that his left leg sustained multiple fractures.
The Forest Worker was immediately taken to PHC Baratang from where he was reffered to G B Pant Hospital.

K.Muralidharan Pillai
Mayabunder, Mar 14: In a very uncommon incident a road roller belonging to M/S. St. George Constructions, Mayabunder hit an electric pole near Webi village of Mayabunder on the early hours of Monday 14th March 2016, thereby causing blackout in the nearby two villages for many hours.
Nobody knows the cause of this accident and on inquiry from the police department it is learnt that they are in hunt for the driver of the Road roller. Further details about the incident are not available.

Kayenat Islam
Port Blair, 09th March 2016: The public of Port Blair have many complaints against the Community Halls in their areas. The constant complaints include the cleanliness of halls, dirty utensils, shortage of chairs and unavailability of drinking water as well.
The Community Halls are cheaper than hotels and private function halls , so it is convenient for all the classes of people to afford it but the problem with these Community Halls is that the facilities they provide are not up to the mark. Often lengthy procedure to book these halls makes things further difficult for public.
When Andaman Sheekha contacted Mr. Jawahar, the Secretary of PBMC regarding the Community Hall issue, he said that during his field inspection the issues that he came across were the shortages of chairs, utensils and apart from this they did not come across any other issues.
“This may be probably because we didn’t go there when a function is happening because that is the time when people gather there and they feel the lack of facilities,” the Secretary added.

Mr. Jawahar said that he has taken a note of these problems now and will work out something to solve these issues.
The secretary assured that the PBMC will come out with a solution, which will be convenient for public, as soon as possible.
He even said that PBMC is planning to come out with a Press Note, through which PBMC will make the public aware about the basic facilities that will be provided by the Community Hall and the things that one should arrange of their own because at such a cheap rate it is not possible to provide hotel like facilities.
The Secretary also gave an indication that there might be a little hike in the rate of Community Halls but of course better service will be assured.