• This refers to ‘Damming the deluge’. When will the government of India take action to make India a participant in the Asian tsunami warning system? Will the Maharashtra state government explain when and where it intends to install a radar system that can aid in warnings of unusually large torrents of rain as Mumbai experienced on July 26, 2005? Must India be for ever condemned to lurch from one tragedy to another, without the government acting on preventive steps?

— Mehernosh Bharucha

Mumbai

• The lifespan of Nepal’s Kosi barrage expired some 22 years back, but no major repair was carried out. This has caused disaster with many lives lost, and property damage worth crores. A large part of Bihar continues to be under water. Most of the barrages and dams in our country are not maintained properly, as regular de-silting is not done. This could cause far greater destruction in the future. It is necessary to form an expert committee to monitor these dams and barrages, wherewith immediate measures should be taken to repair them thoroughly.

— Hara Lal Chakraborty

Kolkata

Can’t defend enough

• The editorial ‘It’s the uniform’ missed the point in trying to be needlessly harsh and polemical. The three service chiefs have taken up an issue that involves the morale of soldiers. Morale is of paramount importance in the armed forces, and a responsible commander has to do all he can to maintain it. Why is a comparison to the IAS spurious? Do not young people of quality choose between careers on the basis of rational comparisons? As it is, we are scraping the bottom of the barrel. Let us take heed of General Omar Bradley’s words: “There is no prize for runners-up in war.”

... contd.