Several wild elephant attacks reported in Kodagu; plantations, vehicles damaged
Madikeri: Amid heavy rains, elephant attacks have been reported across several parts of the district, affecting daily lives of the people here. Elephants are reportedly entering the rural areas in herds and damaging plantations and vehicles.
The herd of tuskers are roaming across the forest and plantations in search of food. People have reported incidents where Elephants suddenly appear on main roads attacking vehicles. Devayya, a resident of Naladi village, whose auto rickshaw was parked near his house was mangled during the tusker movement at night.
In Cheyandane village, plantations of Harish and Sajan were damaged, the tusker herd reportedly destroyed coffee, coconut and betel nut plantations. According to locals, deforestation took place at a larger scale in the Cheyandane area.
In another such incident, the herd entered the banana plantations of Raghukumar of Attur Village in Suntikoppa, destroying the whole crop. The herd which had come in search of food completely razed the banana plantation.
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Locals claimed that despite efforts from the forest department, elephants continue to destroy plantations. Elephants which disappear during the day reappear in the plantations during the night. Locals have also reported elephant sightings on the Suntikoppa, Anekadu, and Kushalnagar highways, forcing motorists to proceed with caution.
Meanwhile, Farmers have expressed concern that if the government does not implement a permanent plan to prevent elephant attacks, the agriculture sector in the district may suffer a significant blow. Additionally, they have also demanded that the forest minister and forest officials not just hold meetings but initiate action and understand the seriousness of the problem.
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'Low-quality' catheters supplied to West Bengal govt hospitals at high price, probe ordered
Kolkata (PTI): The West Bengal health department has launched a probe into the supplies of allegedly low-quality and locally made catheters at a high price to several government hospitals, posing a risk to the lives of patients undergoing treatment in these facilities, officials said.
Such central venous catheters (CVCs) were allegedly supplied to at least five medical colleges and hospitals in the state, defying allocation of international standard-compliant CVCs, they said.
The distribution company, which has been accused of supplying these catheters to government hospitals, admitted to the fault but placed the blame on its employees.
"We started checking stocks some time back and found these locally made CVCs in my hospital store. These catheters are of low quality as compared to those allocated by the state. We have informed the state health department," a senior official of the Calcutta Medical College and Hospital told PTI.
Low-quality catheters were also found in the stores of other hospitals, which indicates "possible involvement of insiders in the scam", a health department official said.
The low-quality CVCs were supplied by a distributor in the Hatibagan area in the northern part of Kolkata for the last three to four months, he said.
"Such kinds of local CVCs are priced around Rs 1,500 but the distributor took Rs 4,177 for each device," the official said.
A CVC is a thin and flexible tube that is inserted into a vein to allow for the administration of fluids, blood, and other treatment. It's also clinically called a central line catheter.
"An initial probe revealed that the distribution company Prakash Surgical had supplied the low-quality and locally manufactured catheters to several government hospitals instead of the CVCs of the government-designated international company.
"All the units will be tested and a proper investigation is on to find out who benefited from these supplies," the health department official said.
The distribution company blamed its employees for the supply of inferior quality catheters.
"I was sick for a few months. Some employees of the organisation made this mistake. We are taking back all those units that have gone to the hospitals. It's all about misunderstanding," an official of the distribution company told PTI.
According to another state health department official, a complaint was lodged with the police in this connection.
Asked about how many patients were affected by the usage of such low-quality CVCs, the official said, "The probe would also try to find that out".
According to sources in the health department, some of the staff of the hospitals' equipment receiving departments and some local officials of international organisations might be involved in the alleged irregularities.
