VIZAG matters - Sohan Hatangadi's Blog

The banyan trees at the recruiting office My article that appeared in The Times of India  on 11 December 2016 Half a century ago, in old Vizag, near the recently restored lighthouse, stood a recruiting office under the shade of large banyan trees. Men for the army, navy and air force were recruited here. The first floor of this building served as the residence of M.K. Unni Menon and his family. He was in-charge of recruitment. Mrs. Menon was a hospitable lady who encouraged children to gather at her home and play in the recruiting office grounds. These “grounds” were not just some open area but an exciting, mysterious, magical world where many children got in touch with the wonders of the nature. Banyan trees The recruiting office ‘grounds’ and surrounding areas had two massive banyan trees ( Ficus benghalensis ). These could be accessed by friends of the Menons. There was another large tree outside the grounds to the East which was in the public domain. These maj...

Saving Vizag's Trees Before you start reading the rest of this post please note down this number: 18004255364 This is the AP Forest Department's 24 hour Toll Free number They accept complaints regarding Tree Cutting, deforestation, wild animal trapping or mistreatment and any illegal forest and wildlife issues.  If you see a tree being cut, call this number and complain! They will get in touch with the local District Forest Officer and pursue the matter. If you have any suggestions - please leave a comment on my blog (preferred), or email me at sohan.hatangadi@gmail.com ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Banyan tree chopped down during the BRTS road project between NAD Kotha Rd. Jn. and Pendurthi W orst time in history for Vizag's trees Several newspaper reports have indicated that GVMC is inclined to cut down large trees that are unfortunate enough to be in the way of our ever widening roads. Between 2009 ...

The attack on NGOs based on a mysterious report from the Intelligence Bureau (IB) which no one appears to have read, appears to be a case of intimidation sponsored by vested interests! Little bits of the "report" are being leaked into the media implying that NGOs are "anti development" and "anti national". That they get money from abroad with the intention of destroying our country!  This part about foreign funding is a sham because a respected NGOs gets funds legitimately through normal financial channels and provide full data to the government about their sources. In fact the banking formalities for NGOs is much more stringent than those imposed on business houses.  In sharp contrast several dubious corporations and politicians channel vast amounts of money into their coffers by dubious means. Isn't the mining industry getting any foreign funding? How else do you explain companies like "ANRAK" (RAK stands for  Ras Al Khaimah) - a mid...