Home

Contact Us

June 2004
Back to Index

Spider terror in Bengal town

          Durgapur (W.Bengal): A team of Tarantula experts have arrived in a West Bengal town to track down the extremely poisonous spider species, which locals say are on a biting spree and have already seriously injured four. "We have been doing research on the spiders for five years. Last week we had some inquiry regarding some particular spider bites in West Bengal. They wanted to know the exact name of that particular spider. As a fallout we came down to West Bengal to do the investigation on these spider attacks," A.V Sudhirkumar, an arachnologist said. Found mostly in the rain forests of South America, this particular species of the Tarantula have been spotted in India after over 100 years. Arachnologists are baffled as to how they entered Durgapur, an industrial town 200 km west of Kolkata, but some say they could have arrived on a foreign cargo.

           "This is an important finding because since 1889 there is no report on this spider in India. After a long duration this is the first report from India and we are going to publish it in British Society and the Tarantula society," M.J Mathew, another researcher said. The entire locality was shocked after a woman bitten by the spider while fetching water from a well, turned blood red and her body swelled within minutes of the attack. Within an hour sores sprang up across her back. The woman had to be air lifted to a speciality hospital in Kolkata where she is still not completely stable. Tarantula bite is known to affect the nervous system sending the victim into fits, and scientists have long been trying to study the effect of their poison. Meanwhile, the news has spread like wildfire and a fear psychosis has gripped the town. Angry locals are demanding civic authorities immediately rid the place of the venomous creatures.
June 26, 2004

Flash floods wreak havoc in Tripura (Go to Top)

          Agartala: Torrential rains for more than a day have swamped Tripura blocking highways and paralysing life. Thousands are being evacuated from the low-lying regions near capital Agartala as the deluge, the worst in the last five years, shows no signs of abating. Authorities have opened 32 emergency relief shelters in the four districts, the worst-hit being Bhilai. "Every house is flooded and people have taken shelter in schools and some are even on the roads," Sanjay Shaw, a resident, said. "It's been raining since night. There is no place to cook, no place to keep our things," Malina, another resident, said. In the absence of proper medical facilities, victims fear the outbreak of water borne diseases. All the region's major rivers, Khowai and Howrah are flowing above the danger mark making relief efforts difficult. Weather officials said the state has received 230.2 mm of rainfall since Tuesday.
June 24, 2004

Homeless Goa sex workers living in the open (Go to Top)

          Biana Beach (Goa): Hundreds of sex workers in Goa who were left homeless after their settlement was demolished last week are still sitting on the roads refusing to be rehabilitated. The infamous red-light area of Baina beach is brimming with families, sleeping, cooking...literally living in the open as the women say the resettlement does not provide for their loss of livelihood. The Biana beach was a thriving flesh trade market, with sex workers operating in some 250 hutments. A court had last year termed the entire settlement as illegal encroachment and ordered its demolition. Thw women complained that the notice given them to relocate was too short and they have lost all their belongings in the demolition exercise. "They demolished without any notice and besides the houses they damaged our belongings, destroyed them completely. If they wanted this place they should have rehabilitated us elsewhere. Who is going to compensate for the loss? We are out on the roads now," Sarita, a sex worker said. "They are not letting us salvage our belongings. Our children also cannot go to schools as we do not have any clothes. We have nowhere to go," Nancy, another sex worker added. State official however say they are not bound to give any additional benefits to the sex works, most of who have migrated from other states, and had offered help on humanitarian grounds. "Though the court is very clear in its ruling saying that since the commercial sex workers are being brought from outside the state of Goa so the government of Goa is not bound to rehabilitate them. Despite of this, we had offered them complete rehabilitation package," state chief minister Manohar Parikar said. Goa is one of the favoured tourist destinations in the country and has recently seen a rise in commercial sex-related activity. Meanwhile, Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar has assured a delegation of Karnataka government regarding the rehabilitation of all sex workers and affected people following the demolition at Baina beach. About 1000 families rendered homeless were migrants from Karnataka. Around 700 of these families migrated from Karnataka who had been staying at Baina beach for the last 40 years.
June 24, 2004

Landslides paralyse life in Uttarkashi (Go to Top)

          Uttarkashi (Uttaranchal): A massive landslide from mountains overlooking the hilly town of Uttarkashi in Uttaranchal has paralysed life in the region, cutting off supplies and blocking vehicular movement. The landslide brought about by torrential pre-monsoon showers, has caused extensive damage to the region, with many houses bearing the brunt of falling boulders and shifting land. Though no casualties have been reported, Uttaranchal authorities have halted traffic along the hilly route as rocks and boulders continued to fall. Angry residents said the authorities were slow to react and have not taken preventive steps despite early warnings. "If the administration wanted they could have saved the four shops that are still under the debris. The whole market, the petrol pump, all these could have been saved but the government is not doing anything," Ram Pratap, a local, said. "We have been asking the administration to do something prior to the monsoon to save life and property but the adminstration after getting money in time has not done anything," Vimal Uniyal, another resident, added. Though rescuers and medical staff have been rushed to the site, authorities say the town rests on extremely loose soil and they have to wait for the earth to stabilize before attempting to clear the rubble. "We are trying to work as fast as possible and I have instructed officials to ensure that the debris is removed as soon as possible," K.K Pant, the distric magistrate, said. With most of its terrain hilly, Uttaranchal is a highly earthquake and landslide prone state. Uttarkashi was the epicenter of a powerful earthquake in 1991, which killed over 1,000 people.
June 21, 2004

                                   Back to Index                 Go to Top