Rights group comes to help of 'tortured' monkeys in Ghaziabad
Ghaziabad, June 12: A contractor, tasked to catch monkeys from here and release them in a distant forested area, stuffed them into small cages and abandoned them in a colony here to save costs, an animal rights group activist said on Tuesday.
"The Municipal Corporation of Ghaziabad awarded a contract to catch monkeys and to leave them in a far forest. But the contractor, in a bid to cut costs, brutally stuffed monkeys caught from various locations into a small cage at a place in Hindon Vihar," said Ashima Sharma, president of People For Animals (PFA).
Sharma said that as she got the information, she rushed to the spot.
"I found poor monkeys stuffed in a cage fighting and injuring each other and squealing in pain.
"Innocent animals were biting each other in irritation. Many of them were found in a badly-wounded condition and some died of hunger and thirst. Female monkeys with babies were crying and their babies were found in very critical condition."
Sharma said that while she ensured the animals were shifted to a bigger cage, Municipal Commissioner Chandra Prakash Singh had agreed to send all injured animals and monkeys with babies at to the PFA Shelter for treatment.
He had also assured to take serious action against the contractor who has done this cruel act, while the healthy monkeys are now being released and sent to Bijnor, she added.
The Municipal Commissioner meanwhile told IANS that he has directed immediate action against the contractor.
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Jhansi fire: Nurse's heroic efforts helped save over dozen babies
Lucknow/Jhansi (UP), Nov 17: Nurse Megha James was on duty when the fire broke out at the Jhansi hospital and she threw herself headlong into the rescue efforts, playing a hero's role by saving several babies.
Even when her salwar got burned, she refused to give up and was able to evacuate 14-15 babies with others' help.
"I had gone to take a syringe to give an injection to a child. When I came back, I saw that the (oxygen) concentrator had caught fire. I called the ward boy, who came with the fire extinguisher and tried to put it out. But by then, the fire had spread," James said.
Ten babies perished in a fire that broke out at the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit of the Maharani Laxmi Bai Medical College in Jhansi Friday night.
Faced with an enormous blaze, James's mind worked with a frenetic speed, to the extent she cared little about burning herself.
"My chappal caught fire and I burned my foot. Then my salwar caught fire. I removed my salwar and discarded it. At that time, my mind was virtually not working," she told PTI Videos.
James just wore another salwar and went back to the rescue operation.
"There was a lot of smoke, and once the lights went out, we could not see anything. The entire staff brought out at least 14-15 children. There were 11 beds in the ward with 23-24 babies," she said.
Had the lights not gone out they could have saved more children, James said. "It all happened very suddenly. None of us had expected it."
Assistant Nursing Superintendent Nalini Sood praised James's valour and recounted bits from how the rescue operation was carried out.
"The hospital staff broke the glasses of the NICU ward to evacuate the babies. It was then Nurse Megha's salwar caught fire. Instead of caring for her safety, she stayed there to rescue the babies and handed them over to people outside," she said.
Sood said James is currently undergoing treatment at the same medical college. She said she did not know the extent of her burns.
"The rescued babies were shifted to a ward very close to the NICU ward… When I recall the scene, I feel like crying," she said.
Dr Anshul Jain, the head of the anaesthesiology department at the medical college, explained the standard rescue operation and claimed the hospital followed the protocol to the T.
"In the triage process during an ICU evacuation, the policy is to evacuate less-affected patients first. The rationale behind this approach is that patients requiring minimal support can be relocated quickly, enabling a larger number of evacuations to be completed in a shorter time.
"In contrast, patients on ventilators or requiring high oxygen support demand more time and resources for evacuation," he said.
"This principle was successfully implemented in Jhansi, playing a significant role in saving many lives," Jain said.
A newborn rescued from the fire died due to illness on Sunday, Jhansi District Magistrate Avinash Kumar said.
