Over the past few days, one thing worries me. Why don't we shout and scream against the loss of lives of the poor due to the rains? In my opinion, this is one of the most important responsibility of a nation (or state) and its government. To save the citizens from periodic/yearly disasters such as floods and rains. There seems to be a chaos and lack of planning in handling such situations. So far, this year, rains and flooding have cost around 60 lives each in Maharashtra, Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh.
My concern is that not enough is being done to reduce this damage over a period of time. Not many people seem to be so serious about it. The schools in Mumbai being shut for a day or two make bigger headlines in papers/TV that the number of deaths due to floods! The funniest thing I saw on TV news was that on yesterday, they were showing a filthy-rich young kid playing video game at his house and the reporter reporting that this is what the rains and the floods have done to Mumbai! Is that it? I AM SORRY NO... The rains and floods have washed away lives. Taken away sons, fathers, husbands. Taken away the homes, bread and butter of millions. But not enough people that I see are taking this seriously.
And about the government efforts? They are all in rescue mode now. The relief operations are a knee-jerk reaction. But this should not happen time and again. There must be better planning to avoid the life-loss in the first place.
What are the solutions?
- More government plans and their execution.
- Rain water harvesting in cities [I have heard that there is a law in Ahmedabad where every new construction is not allowed a clearance unless they make sure that none of the rain water falling on its surface will go beyond its boundaries. It has to be harvested below its soil. Its an excellent initiative. Why is it not seen in all the cities?]
- A mega river plan wherein floods can be avoided or reduced.
- Early weather monitoring systems to warn - Heard that the Doppler radars which are coming in before the 2007 monsoon will help this cause.
- Any other thoughts?
I urge the governments to give serious thoughts to all these issues and start putting together short and long terms plans to avoid such calamities.
-Ashutosh
The Trial
10 years ago
1 comment:
Why blame the government for everything that goes wrong? Sure they have a job to do and no matter what we do they are not going to change. The solution is in finding what we can do. How about avoiding the use of plastics altogether? This is the basic thing that everyone can and must do.
Manish
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