New fire stations, not gear

The fire department has decided to set up six new fire stations in the city and the suburbs at a cost of Rs 7.5 crore to avoid delay during emergencies.

Fire minister Javed Khan made the announcement last week. “It becomes difficult for firemen to tackle a blaze as it takes a lot of time to reach the spot because of the distance between the place and the fire station. So we have decided to set up more fire stations,” the minister said.

He added that the new fire stations have been proposed on the EM Bypass (near Pragati Maidan police station), inside Jadavpur University, on Strand Road and in Kidderpore, Baruipur and Garia. “The land for the first three fire stations have been identified. Work will start after we receive the clearances from the finance department,” Khan said.

The plan has attracted criticism from senior officials of the department, who questioned the wisdom behind building new fire stations at such a high cost (Rs 1.25 crore each) without first clearing plans to procure much-needed equipment and creating infrastructure for better firefighting.

“Earlier, in most cases, men and machines from bigger stations were moved to smaller ones. But new recruitment and procurements were hardly ever made,” said a senior official of the fire department. He also questioned the logic behind some of the proposed locations. “Strand Road has two fire stations nearby — at Mohammad Ali Park and Poddar Court. Why set up another one within a radius of a kilometre?”

Another official said: “It is a good idea to set up more fire stations but latest equipment and better infrastructure are the need of the hour. Simply opening new stations will not solve the problems.”

He said the fire department had struggled during the AMRI fire because of the lack of breathing apparatus. “The firemen do not even have proper boots or flashlights. Most ladders are manual. There should be more small engines fitted with electronic ladders. Priority should be given to these.”

Scare stalks raided residents

The Naskars are living in constant fear of retaliation from the robbers who had raided their East Jadavpur home early on Friday and are yet to be arrested.

“They had threatened to come back if we reported the robbery to police. Since the visit of senior police officers to our home has become public, we are fearing retaliation anytime,” Sudarshan Naskar told Metro.

The fear of a second raid has so unnerved Sudarshan and Sumita — who were hit, tied and gagged — that the couple can’t risk staying alone and have been joined by six of their relatives at their Purbalok residence, off the EM Bypass.

“It’s difficult to cope with the threat, though it is comforting to know that a police vehicle has been posted outside,” said 53-year-old Sudarshan, a cardiac patient.

The police are yet to make any headway apart from “stumbling upon clues” hinting that none of the local gangs had been involved in the robbery near Metro Cash & Carry.

“This was just waiting to happen in an area where the roads are poorly lit, there is no police presence and there are a number of houses under construction,” said Madhumita Chatterjee, an MA student who lives with her parents not far from the Naskar residence.

“Our house was raided a few months ago when it was empty for a few days. The robbers managed to get in despite a collapsible gate and a wooden door. We now have three gates, a caretaker and grilles but we still feel unsafe at night,” added Madhumita.

With cops appearing clueless on Sunday — despite a prompt visit by joint commissioner (crime) Damayanti Sen to the Naskar address on Saturday — scare stalked the area. “It seems an outside gang with a specific tip-off had barged into the house. The robbers knew that the couple had three cellphones and they also knew that the couple’s son Anirban, who lives in Thailand, had recently visited Calcutta,” said an officer.

The gang of five had broken two doors of the single-storey house, including a grille gate, before banging on the door of the couple’s bedroom around 4am. One of them hit Sudarshan on the head with a bamboo stick and the butt of a pistol. While three of the gang members went on a looting spree, the other two tied up the couple’s hands and legs.

The robbery, within days of the daring daylight attack on homemaker Vidya Desai in Kasba, has exposed lax policing on the southern fringes even after their merger with Calcutta police. “We had a lot of expectations when the East Jadavpur police station was taken over by Lalbazar in September. But almost nothing has changed,” said a resident.

Those in neighbouring Kasba echoed him. “We are no longer safe even in our homes. We are keeping our main gates locked during daytime too,” said Sanjoy Chakraborty, a resident.

Baguiati murder

Police are yet to make any headway into the Saturday murder of a mother and her daughter in a rented apartment in Baguiati. “We are yet to identify the killer and ascertain the motive behind the twin murders,” said Rajeev Kumar, the commissioner of Bidhannagar police.

The bodies of Sangeeta Loharuka, 37, and Class V student Isha were found in two bedrooms of the flat.

In a related development, a woman named Radha Bhartia turned up at New Town police station on Sunday and lodged a complaint stating that her husband Rajesh, who was known to the victims, had been missing since Friday.

“He left home on Thursday night, saying he was on night duty, but is yet to return,” Radha said. Rajesh’s friends claimed he had recently been employed by a cloth-packaging unit in Topsia but the firm’s owner told cops the youth was not working there.

Forensic experts on Sunday visited the apartment and collected blood samples and finger prints. “The killer had washed his hands in a basin and tried to remove the blood stains,” said an officer of the forensic department.

The City Diary

Negligence cry over baby death

four-month-old baby suffering from pneumonia died at BC Roy hospital on Sunday, allegedly because of delay in replacing an oxygen cylinder. oumik Halder was admitted to the general ward on Saturday evening and put on oxygen support. The baby’s mother, Sumita, noticed him suffering from respiratory distress on Sunday. “She was told the oxygen cylinder was empty and it would take time for another cylinder to arrive. The nurse said one shouldn’t expect better service for a free patient,” said Biswanath, Soumik’s father and a resident of Nadia. “By the time the cylinder was brought, my son had died.” We have received the complaint and are conducting a probe,” said medical superintendent Dilip Kumar Paul.

Water supply: Water supply may be disrupted in the Kalighat, Chetla, Ranikuthi and Garfa areas on Tuesday because of repairs from Monday. Households in the affected areas will get filtered water early on Tuesday but not after that. Normal supply is likely to resume on Wednesday.

Power supply: Power supply may be disrupted in the Anandapur, EM Bypass, East Topsia Road, Picnic Garden, VIP Nagar Colony, Tagore Park, Chowbhaga, Maheswartala and south Tangra areas between 11am and 3pm on Monday because of maintenance.

Couple suicide: A 65-year-old asthma patient, Ram Lakhan Shaw, and his wife hanged themselves from a fan in their Chetla home on Sunday.

Welcome to ‘Mini Kerala’, off EM Bypass

KOLKATA: When Jaison Abraham first stepped into Mukundapur in 2005 there were only 30-odd Keralites like him who had taken up a nursing job in Kolkata’s still-nascent private healthcare sector. In 2012, he says, the number has increased to nearly 3,000 in Mukundapur alone.

“Mukundapur is like a mini Kerala now. Even some shop owners at Mukundapur market have picked up Malayali. Almost every other person staying here seems to be speaking in it,” Jaison says. “Now whenever anyone decides to come to Kolkata for a nursing job, Mukundapur is the first address they look for,” he adds.

Jaison’s observation is reflected in the rise in the number of Keralite nurses that the city houses. Of the 15,000 Keralite nurses now working in Kolkata (even places like Siliguri, Asansol and Durgapur), more than half – 7,800 to 8,000 – are male nurses.

Simple recruitment logic explains the rapid increase – a 200-bed hospital needs to employ at least 500 nurses. The figure may seem too high for the discerning, but nurses work on two six-hour shifts and a 12-hour night shift.

But why Kolkata and least of all, Mukundapur? Kolkata, Jaison explains, even six years back, had only RTIICS, AMRI, CMRI and BM Birla Heart Research Centre. But now the requirement has shot up. Even a few years back, Kolkata didn’t top the list of preferred employers. But now with the average starting salary of Rs 7,500-Rs 8,000 per month, it is only a few notches below New Delhi (Rs 9,000 per month) and Mumbai (Rs 8,000 to Rs 9,000 per month). The lower living cost in Kolkata now makes it a preferred destination for young nursing aspirants.

For them the ultimate ambition is to crack the International English Language Testing System (IELTS) examination. This is a prerequisite to work in Europe, USA, Canada, New Zealand and Australia. But for that they need to gain experience which is mandatory. English speaking countries for example pay anything from Rs 2 lakh to Rs 4 lakh per month. The next target remains Gulf countries where IELTS isn’t mandatory. Kuwait’s ministry of health, for example, pays Rs 1.1 lakh per month. “Everyone demands work experience,” says Abin M Joseph, Jaison’s former roommate, who also yearns for a job abroad. “IELTS is a very tough examination. For engineers and others a five-point score is sufficient, but for us, doctors and teachers, at times a seven to eight-point score isn’t enough to make the cut,” he adds.

These reasons prompt them to head to Kolkata. As another male nurse points out, “Now even Kolkata hospitals are aggressively advertising in Kerala newspapers for job openings for nurses.”

Any new nurse-aspirant who first steps into Kolkata, invariably heads to Mukundapur. Within a kilometer radius of RTIICS, every other home – some hastily built and plastered – rent houses to these people from Kerala. It isn’t bad business either. The rent for a two-bedroom flat is at least Rs 7,500.

Mukundapur now sports two flashy gyms – the only break for these young people from the otherwise rigorous six-hour shifts and nearly two-hour complex handover process. If things go as per plan, a church is also slated to come up in the vicinity. Eateries are few but that is only because most of these Keralite boys and girls prefer to cook on their own.

If Mukundapur hasn’t grown beyond this yet, is only because of a peculiar work pattern the job entails. Says a Kolam resident, “It may appear to be a mere six-hour job, but it is very strenuous. Once it is over, the handover process is also very cumbersome. Every patient’s requirements need to be briefed. It usually takes nearly two more hours. Add to it the in-house training every other day. By the time the 8am to 2pm shift ends, we usually head to our pads so tired that we crash. Though we have a five-day-a-month leave, we tend to save it for a once-a-year break at home. Sunday is working for most of us.” The only break they enjoy is an occasional visit to the gym and a weekend mass.

The unfailing ambition of these nurses from Kerala stands as a contrast to their Bengali counterparts. While Bengali nurses aim for a government job, these youths yearn to go abroad.

This influx of Keralite nurses which is redefining the demographics of Mukundapur, has also added a new dimension to the private healthcare system by breaking the gender ceiling of a different kind, young boys replacing female nurses. Admits Jaison, “When we joined, people either thought us to be doctors or attendants. That we were nurses is something they took time to grasp and understand.” Now male nurses are steadily becoming indispensable in the critical care units of hospitals.

As the steady retinue of people walks out of the hospital, heading for their much-deserved break, shop owners in and around Mukundapur also realise what these dreary faces need. A mere nod of their head is enough to pack their daily requirements. Shy and reserved, they head for their home. It’s evening, however, at the market place where the buzz returns unmistakably.

Malayi often replaces Bengali here. To prove a point, Jaison picks up a conversation in chaste Malayali with a fruit-seller.