Thursday, December 10, 1998
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REGIONAL BRIEFS | Thursday, December 10, 1998 |
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Bus stand or a dumping site The Himachal Pradesh Government has done well to acquire a big plot of land in the heart of Kangra town for the main bus stand. Currently half of the area is used for incoming and outgoing buses and the parking of vehicles. The remaining half, which is yet to be developed, is an eyesore. It is being used as a dumping site for the area's waste, including night soil. The right thing would be to develop the vacant space into flower beds. Alternatively, the area can be used for raising trees — whether flowering ones or economically important ones. Another aspect of the Kangra main bus stand is that urinals and lavatories have been provided in one corner. The passengers travelling in buses heading for the plains find it extremely difficult to leave their seats/luggage unattended and avail themselves of the public (in)convenience. The worst is that the attendants manning the women's lavatory allow even male passengers to use it. When questioned about this, the attendants tend to become argumentative. Courage goes unrewarded The exemplary courage exhibited by Gurdyal Singh, who jumped into a 1000-foot-deep gorge and saved 22 lives on June 1, 1989, has been ignored by the H.P. Government. A good Samartian, Gurdyal Singh, jumped into the gorge when he noticed that a Kalka-bound bus had fallen into it near Parwanoo. It was due to his efforts that the lives of several wounded passengers were saved. But the HRTC authorities' attitude towards him is not only lackadaisical but also apathetic. Gurdyal Singh, who was driving a Delhi-bound HRTC bus received stitches on his head while saving the injured passengers. He was hospitalised for a month in the PGI, Chandigarh. Not only this, the accident even affected the movement of his right arm. He now usually rests on the left arm as the pain in the right arm makes it difficult for him to rest on the right sides. So far, doctors have failed to help him get rid of the pain. Gurdyal Singh has not only been threatened with administrative action by HRTC officials for acting of his own but his salary has also been withheld for the period when he was hospitalised in the PGI, Chandigarh. Despite repeated requests no special leave was sanctioned to him for this period. Instead of giving him a special incentive and promotion, the HRTC authorities sanctioned a measly sum of Rs 200 as a cash reward for saving 22 lives, endangering his own life. Another reward which the HRTC showered on him is his posting as the traffic in charge of the Solan bus stand. Before issuing the new posting order, the authorities did not even ponder that how a person, who cannot sleep properly, can handle this job in a busy bus stand. But despite all this, Gurdyal Singh has been efficiently handling his present responsibilities. In the service of hearing impaired Tough times never last but tough people do. This seems to be the guiding principle for Dr Naresh Malhotra, a consultant ENT surgeon and a former head of the ENT Department at Christian Medical College and Hospital. Born with a son suffering from partial hearing impairment, Dr Malhotra took upon himself the odious task of helping his child lead a normal life. Combining the principles of speech and lip reading along with providing hearing aids, Dr Malhotra has been engaged in providing treatment to the hearing impaired. "Knowing about the social ostracism being meted out to the hearing impaired, I had always wanted to do something for them. I began to pursue this field of specialisation much more aggressively after my son was born, says Dr Malhotra. Having completely devoted himself to the betterment of such patients, he gave up his prestigious job at the CMC. The treatment begins by first providing the patient with a suitable hearing aid and exposing him to various sounds so that he is trained to respond to these sounds. This auditory training helps build a language for the patient which he can easily comprehend and respond to. Then comes the most trying part of the treatment, i.e, speech correction." The entire treatment is very lengthy and requires a lot of patience on the part of the patient and his family, says the doctor. Dr Malhotra is assisted by an audiologist/speech therapist, Ms Poonam Grover, who feels that awareness about the treatment of the hearing impaired is lacking. "Instead of relying on the treatment procedures, the families of these patients only work for their rehabilitation. The attempt should be to make them speak and shift from the sign language." ( Contributed by
K.L. Noatay, Neha Shaily and Ruchika Mohindra.) |
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