kollam l tuesday l may 28, 2024 l `9.00 l PAGES 12 l city EDITION Cyclone remal leaves trail of destruction in bengal, four killed Rain to continue till tuesday morning The cyclone ravaged adjacent coasts of West Bengal and Bangladesh between Sagar Island and Khepupara after its landfall process began around 8.30 pm on Sunday. After a night of heavy rainfall, several areas of Kolkata remained inundated. More rainfall is on the cards, not only in the metropolis but also in other parts of the state till Tuesday morning, which may hamper relief works Strong winds blew away roofs of huts and knocked down power poles, while accompanying downpour caused waterlogging in many areas flight services resume after 21 hours ■ ■ The deaths mostly occurred due to the collapse of roofs and walls of houses due to strong winds and relentless downpours. People have been urged to remain indoors as heavy rain persists in many areas Fight services at the Kolkata airport resumed on Monday morning after remaining suspended for 21 hours because of the cyclone 135 kmph Maximum wind speed recorded as the cyclone tore through bengal coast CHENNAI ■ MADURAI ■ VIJAYAWADA ■ BENGALURU ■ KOCHI ■ HYDERABAD ■ VISAKHAPATNAM ■ COIMBATORE ■ KOZHIKODE ■ THIRUVANANTHAPURAM ■ BELAGAVI ■ BHUBANESWAR ■ SHIVAMOgGA ■ MANGALURU ■ TIRUPATI ■ TIRUCHY ■ TIRUNELVELI ■ SAMBALPUR ■ HUBBALLI ■ DHARMAPURI ■ KOTTAYAM ■ KANNUR ■ VILLUPURAM ■ KOLLAM ■ TADEPALLIGUDEM ■ NAGAPATTINAM ■ THRISSUR ■ KALABURAGI Fund crunch: No Kochi Biennale this yr? A i s h w a r ya P r a b h a k a r a n @Kochi Below normal monsoon in east, northeast J i t e n d r a C h o u b e y @ New Delhi In its updated long-range forecast for the upcoming Southwest monsoon season, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) on Monday predicted above-normal rainfall over central and south peninsular India and normal rains over northwest India. However, eastern and northeast regions and some northHeatwave er n parts days such as In its assessment Jammu and for June, the K a s h m i r, weather office Ladakh, also said the Himachal number of Pradesh and heatwave days Uttarawould be above khand may normal over most likely see parts of below-nornorthwest India m a l and adjoining rainfall. areas of Central “ T h e India s o u t h we s t monsoon seasonal rainfall is most likely to be ‘above normal’ over central India and south peninsular India (greater than 106% of the long-period average), ‘normal’ over northwest India (92-108%) and ‘below normal’ over northeast India (less than 94%),” the weather office said. This means India’s core monsoon zone, where agriculture is mostly rain-fed, will get above-normal rains. The IMD has already predicted the onset of the monsoon over Kerala on May 31. In an unusual development, the Bay of Bengal branch of the monsoon may arrive earlier than the Arabian Sea branch due to cyclone Remal, which has pushed up monsoon wind. The sixth edition of Kochi-Muziris Biennale (KMB), India’s largest contemporary art exhibition that was scheduled to be held later this year, is on the verge of being called off owing to severe financial crunch. The non-availability of venue has compounded the problem. “Due to financial constraints and unavailability of venues, this year’s Biennale has been postponed,” a source close to the exhibition’s organising body told TNIE. When contacted, KMB founder-president Bose Krishnamach- ari said, “We will be making an announcement soon regarding the next edition of the Kochi Biennale.” This will be the first time that Kochi misses out on the event, which draws art lovers from across the nation and even abroad, due to reasons like lack of funds and venue. Barring in 2020, when its fifth edition had to be put off owing to the pandemic, the event has been held every two years in December since 2012. The fifth edition was held from December 23, 2022. Though it is speculated that the historical Aspinwall House, which serves as a main venue of the Biennale, will be sold to the Coast Guard, the source said it was not the reason behind the decision not to host the Biennale. “Talks about Aspinwall House being sold are not the reason for postponing the Biennale. While conceptualising the Biennale in Guj HC raps govt, says lost 519 fell victims to trafficking faith in state machinery in last 2 years Roasts Rajkot municipal corporation for not enforcing fire safety rules S h a n A S @T’Puram D i l i p S i n g h K s h at r i ya Debris being removed from the game zone site in Rajkot, where 28 died in a blaze | Pti @ Ahmedabad The Gujarat High Court on Monday hit out at the Rajkot Municipal Corporation and the state government, saying it has lost faith in the state machinery that turns a blind eye to illegal structures and wakes up only after innocent lives are lost. The sharp remarks came a day after the HC took suo-motu note of the blaze at the TRP Game Zone in Rajkot on Saturday which , killed at least 28 people. The game zone did not have the fire NOC or other permissions for functioning. A special bench of justices Biren Vaishnav and Devan Desai asked the Rajkot civic body why it allowed the game zone to run. The bench was furious when it was told the operators did not apply for permissions. “Were you blind to the existence of this large structure? How do you explain that the entire zone has existed for the last two-and-a- Notice to past officials The HC noted that every municipal commissioner starting from the establishment of the TRP Game Zone in 2021 up to the time of the incident “should be held responsible for the tragedy”. It instructed them to provide individual affidavits half years? What fire safety measures were applied?” it asked. When a counsel pointed out that drastic actions must be taken to avoid such incidents in future, the bench said: “Who will take such drastic steps? Frankly we no , longer have faith in the state machinery. This is the sixth incident in four years after our orders and their assurances. They only act after lives are lost.” During the hearing, the bench examined photographs showing Rajkot government officials at the gaming zone inauguration. “Who were these officers? Were they there for play? Can we not take judicial notice of that fact? For 18 months, what did the corporation do? Just sit on it?” the bench questioned. express read KSU meet chaos: 4 leaders suspended T’Puram: The NSUI leadership has suspended four KSU leaders, including state general secretary A Ananthakrishnan, in connection with the alleged drunken brawl at KSU southern regional study camp held at Rajiv Gandhi Centre for Development Studies at Neyyar Dam | P4 Cops attend goon’s party, face probe Kochi: A probe is on against four police officials, including a DySPranked officer, who attended a party at the house of gangster Thammanam Faizal on Sunday. Following a tip-off, a police team had reached the house when the cops were attending the party at Puliyanam near Angamaly | P5 2010, Aspinwall House did not figure in discussions by Kochi Biennale Foundation. If not Aspinwall House, the foundation will find another location,” said the source. The state budget for 2024-25 allocated `5 crore for the Biennale’s sixth edition. Meanwhile, the source said Delhi-based realty firm DLF, which owns Aspinwall House, has been charging hefty amounts as rent for hosting the Biennale. “During the last edition, the firm demanded `25 lakh per month as rent. The foundation ended up paying around `1.5 crore to DLF,” said the source. tree of a kind Visitors chill beside a dried up tree at Kalamkunnu in Kollam. Though the district received good rain in the past few days, the tree, which faced the brunt of the harsh summer, is far from regaining its green canopy | Vincent Pulickal A staggering 519 people — 236 children, 234 women and 49 men — from the state fell victims to human trafficking in the past two years, data from the police has revealed. As per the official statistics of the police anti-human trafficking unit for the years 2022 and 2023, accessed by TNIE, 257 cases of human trafficking were registered in police stations across the state in the two years. The highest number of cases, 75, was registered in Kasaragod. Year-wise breakup of the data showed that the both the number of cases and number of victims saw a drop in 2023 from 2022. While 152 cases were registered in 2022, 105 cases were registered in 2023. In 2022, 149 women and 143 children fell prey to traffickers, in comparison to 85 women and 93 children in 2023. From Kasaragod, 137 people, including 22 men, 53 women and 62 children, fell victims to trafficking in the two years. As per the two-year data, Idukki was in second place with 49 cases, while Ernakulam was third with 45 cases. Asked about the surge in cases in the district, Kasaragod district police chief P Bijoy said the numbers saw a surge as police add IPC Section related to trafficking in grave crimes, such as rape, involving minors. “The cases are not related to trafficking of people to other countries. The police register kidnapping cases where minors are taken away without the consent of parents, and rape cases, where minors are victims, under the human trafficking head,” Bijoy said. Experts in the domain feel otherwise. P M Nair, retired DGP and former anti-human trafficking project coordinator with the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), said if the number of women and children who are yet to be traced is BLeak numbers Human trafficking victims from the state include 236 children, 234 women and 49 men 1 75 cases, the highest in Kerala, registered in Malappuram in 2022 and 2023. Idukki was in second place with 49 cases, while Ernakulam was third with 45 cases 2 The police arrested 415 people, including 46 women, in the cases in two years 3 Experts say number of cases will increase if women and children who are yet to be traced are considered 4 added to the list, the number of trafficking cases will see a marked jump. He also said in cases of sex trafficking, there is usually laxity in the police investigation . “In such cases, the police usually limit the probe to the destination. The investigation does not extend to the source, the place from where the victim was trafficked, and places where the victim stayed in transit. Similarly, the probe is conducted in a casual manner in cases of forced labour and child labour. If seriously probed, the number of human trafficking cases will rise manifold,” P M Nair said. The police arrested 415 people, including 46 women, in human trafficking cases in the past two years. While 295 people were arrested in 2022, 116 were ar rested in 2023. In Kasaragod, 106 people were arrested in the two years of whom five were women. Curbs on poll victory show in ‘volatile’ Vadakara E x p r e ss N e w s S e r v i c e @Kozhikode An all-party meeting convened by the police on Monday decided to impose curbs on poll victory celebrations in Vadakara on June 4, considering the “volatile situation” in the Lok Sabha constituency . It was decided that only winners can hold celebrations, without vehicular processions, on the day of the results, and that the revelry must be wrapped up by 7pm. Party leaders and representatives attending the meeting, held in the presence of Kannur Range DIG S Sethuraman, also decided to act and remove all election-related banners and posters in the constituency. They also assured to ensure a peaceful atmosphere even after the results. Former health minister K K Shailaja of the LDF, Palakkad MLA Shafi Parambil of the UDF and Praphul Krishnan of the NDA went head to head in the constituency . Vadakara was the cynosure of all eyes during the election campaign. The bomb explosion at Panur and CPM’s allegation of doctored videos and fake posts of Shailaja being circulated had vitiated the atmosphere. To top it all, a screenshot of a WhatsApp message that termed Shailaja a ‘kafir’ and gave a call to vote against her, had also caused controversy. There were apprehensions the issues may snowball into a major law and order problem after the counting is over.  ● More on P4 4.65 lakh students apply for Plus-I Number of applicants declines by 4,339 from last year. 10 out of 14 districts see drop | P4 Jadavpur University alumni lock horns, battle for LS seat is on a razor’s edge S u l a g n a S e n g u p ta @ Kolkata The Jadavpur parliamentary constituency is known for its cerebral power as it often sends luminaries to the Lok Sabha. For example, way back in 1984, current Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee wrested the seat on a Congress ticket from CPM stalwart Somnath Chatterjee. This time around, it could be a toss up between the Trinamool’s Saayoni Ghosh, the CPM’s Srijan Bhattacharyya and the BJP’s Anirban Ganguly because the race is that tight. All three are alumni of Jadavpur University. At 47, Dr Ganguly is the eldest of them. Saayoni and Srijan are 31. Saayoni became the Trinamool Congress youth wing head after Mamata’s nephew and party general secretary Abhishek Banerjee vacated the position in 2021. An actor by profession, she got the moniker of a party streetfighter from Mamata. Srijan is member of the CPM’s West Bengal State Committee. He was the State Secre- tary of the Students’ Federation of India for just over six years till January last. As for Dr Ganguly, he is an academic and chairman of the BJP’s Dr Syama Prasad Mooker jee Research Foundation. W h il e Saayon i p ar rot s Mamata’s seamless connect with the grassroots, adding she introduced various innovative schemes for the upliftment of the poor, Ganguly hammers away at the TMC’s scams under Mamata’s watch and her at- tempts to shield her tainted party leaders. Saayoni models herself on Mamata’s brand of politics, saying: “I’ve learned that real politics is different from what’s in the textbooks. A true leader understands the people’s needs and struggles, just like Mamata. A leader must be accessible, and I am here for Jadavpur.” Her political journey began in February 2021 when she joined the TMC and unsuccessfully contested for the Asansol South assembly seat. In contrast, Srijan has been in politics for a long time. He promises to introduce more in- From left, Srijan Bhattacharyya, Saayoni Ghosh and Dr Anirban Ganguly dustries and bring back jobs to the state that were chased away by the current regime. He flogs the Singur example where the then CPM chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharya invited the Tatas to set up their Nano plant, but they were driven away by Mamata’s activism. Ganguly is seen mobilising people from other districts for large road shows and rallies with posters and banners in a demonstration of strength across the constituency Sobha . Rani Deb, a senior voter in Baghajatin area of Jadavpur is critical of Ganguly’s mobilisation. “This is an election, not a festival. Ganguly’s road shows often end up in creating traffic bottlenecks,” she rued. The Jadavpur Lok Sabha constituency includes Baruipur Purba (Scheduled Caste), Baruipur Paschim, Sonarpur, Bhangar, Jadavpur, Sonarpur Uttar and Tollygunge assembly segments. It falls within the 24 Parganas district, which is the sixth-most densely populated in India.