Fire safety neglected
The fire that ravaged the Sunday market in Vasco late Wednesday night highlights a critical concern that affects every bustling marketplace in our towns and cities. How safe are these markets from fire hazards? Overcrowded stalls, and the widespread presence of combustible items, such as clothes and plastic footwear, make marketplaces highly susceptible to fire outbreaks. One of the key contributors to such incidents is the haphazard installation of electricity connections. Makeshift wiring and overloaded circuits in markets not only pose risks of short-circuits but can also ignite fires that spread rapidly in crowded conditions. The Vasco inferno serves as a grim reminder of what can go wrong when fire safety is not prioritised. One of the foremost measures that need urgent implementation is conducting detailed fire audits in every marketplace. Many markets suffer from unreliable or non-functional fire hydrants, severely hampering firefighting efforts during an emergency. Narrow and congested layout of many markets complicates evacuation and rescue operations. Educating stall owners and workers on fire prevention practices and emergency response can drastically reduce risks.
Adelmo Fernandes, Vasco
Don’t play with fire
On Wednesday night around 11:40 pm, a devastating fire broke out at the Sunday market in Vasco, gutting 129 small cloth shops. The blaze spread rapidly through textiles and plastic goods, destroying new Diwali stock and inflicting crores of rupees in losses on small traders. Thankfully, no casualties were reported. This tragedy is an urgent eye-opener for shop owners and authorities to inspect ageing buildings and faulty wiring. It highlights the need for municipalities to ensure firefighting optimally. Another minor incident occurred at Tilak Maidan on Wednesday itself. We hope the traders receive swift support and rebuild their livelihoods in right spirit.
Raju Ramamurthy, Vasco
Threat from killer thread
Makara Sankaranti is still some fortnights away. But the threat of Chinese Manja appears constant, throughout the year. A 38-year-old mother of two succumbed to her injuries after falling from her scooter when a loose manja thread, hanging from a tree, became entangled around her neck in Hubballi. Synthetic nylon with a mixture of rice glue and powdered glass is dangerous and deadly. Chinese manja is said to be cheap, thick and strong with longer durability and resistant to cutting. It was banned in 2017 following the order of the National Greens Tribunal. Why is the manja still in circulation despite the ban. When the police crack down on wholesalers and retailers, online sales of Chinese manja gain momentum.
Ganapathi Bhat, Akola
On march and anarchy
This is with reference to the photograph captioned ‘March for democracy’ (NT, October 29, 2026), undertaken in Delhi by the BJP and led by its national president Nitin Nabin and Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta to save democracy and remove anarchy. Obviously, this is a ploy in retaliation to the nationwide protests by lakhs of eligible voters whose names were deleted during the flawed SIR exercise by the Election Commission of India. By any reckoning these protest marches were peaceful and within constitutional and democratic rights of citizens demanding justice, barring a few infiltrators who acted in an unruly manner and were either detained or arrested. There was never any question of anarchy or change of regime demand.
AF Nazareth, Alto Porvorim
Ashoke Sen honoured
Ashoke Sen has been awarded the 2026 Oskar Klein Medal, becoming the first Indian physicist to receive the honour. Widely regarded as an architect of modern string theory, his work provides a unifying description of matter and the forces between them. This pursuit of unification mirrors the concepts found in the ‘Out of Africa’ theory, which established that all humans belong to a single family. Researchers have produced new DNA evidence that almost certainly confirms this theory of human evolution, proving that all of us stem from a single group of Homo sapiens.
Sujit De, Kolkata
False cures
I sound an urgent alarm about a dangerous wave of online medical fraud targeting vulnerable social media users. Sophisticated AI-generated deepfake videos falsely feature trusted public figures and simulated news broadcasts claiming Vicks VapoRub is a proven cure for Alzheimer’s disease. These fabricated ads exploit families facing cognitive decline for financial gain or data harvesting. As generative AI advances, these scams grow harder to distinguish from reality, risking citizens’ health by discouraging genuine treatment while eroding public trust in verified journalism and science. Social media platforms must drastically step up content moderation and swift removal of deepfake scams.
Everette Assis Telles, Margao
