Kasaragod, Jul 23: Prominent anti-nuclear activist S P Udayakumar has called for setting up the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) model hospital offered to the State in Kasaragod district.
He said that it could be an atonement by the State for the prolonged aerial spraying of the pesticide endosulfan in cashew estates which resulted in the tragedy for hundreds of families in the district.
He said it was a disaster of greater magnitude than of December 1984 Bhopal disaster. It would be necessary to launch mass protests, including hunger strike, to see that the proposed hospital is set up in Kasaragod, Mr. Udayakumar said. Mr. Udayakumar was inaugurating a convention hosted by the Endosulfan Peeditha Janakeeya Munnani (EPJM) on Saturday to mount pressure on the State to chose Kasaragod for setting up the hospital.
“It is sad to note that the distraught and cash-strapped families residing in remote hamlets, continue to rush their afflicted wards to far off hospitals in the hope of availing expert medical care,” he pointed out.
The largely attended function held at the Town Cooperative bank auditorium, was chaired by EPJM president Muneesa Ambalathara, an endosulfan victim afflicted with vision impairment right from birth. Besides social activist Ambikasudan Mangad, retired Kasaragod government college Principal V. Gopinath and EPJM Secretary Ambalathara Kunhikrishnan took part in the meet.
The kidnapped schoolboy was rescued by the police and reunited with his parents. Son of a gift shop owner from Basavanagudi area in Bengaluru, Chirag has reportedly told police that decided to make some quick money to spend on cricket betting and gambling after learning kidnap tricks from the ‘Crime Patrol’. According to police, Chirag reached a private school around 3pm on Tuesday on a Bounce rental bike and zeroed in on a fourth standard student who was walking out of school. He told the boy he was his father's friend and that he required help to search for a relative who had gone missing. The boy believed Chirag and rode pillion on the bike. Chirag then engaged the boy in conversation and learnt about his father's business and got his mobile phone number. He then made a call to the boy's father, demanded Rs 5 lakh and warned him against approaching cops. However, the boy's father alerted Cottonpet police and special teams were formed to crack the case. While Cottonpet inspector Venkatesh TC's squad verified CCTV footage in and around the school, Chamarajpet inspector BG Kumaraswamy's team started tracking the suspect's mobile phone movements. An hour later, the suspect's location was traced to a hotel on the Lavelle Road-St Mark's Road stretch. Police rushed there, rescued the boy and arrested Chirag.
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I felt the same. Apart from endosulphan issue, monopoly may be the prominent issue. Now itself many people working as agent for some hospitals in mangalore. They will suggest such hospitals and by that loot from poor people's pocket
Kasaragod must have AIIMS. Now many people depending one or two hospitals in hospitals. It will create monopoly
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