Hey..
Nature is incomprehensible. One one hand it lashes out rains wreaking havoc and on the other hand, a few hundred miles away where people just clamour for droplets of water, the rains dont make any appearance at all.
The recent rains in Mumbai has left everyone speechless. The death toll is officially close to a thousand. Several thousands have been rendered homeless. Only half an year ago it was the raging seas that caused an epic disaster in the southern parts of asia damaging millions of lives.
It only goes to prove the point that as man keeps making astounding progress in science & technologies, there is a force that tries to keep all of us in check. While we have the capability to develop nukes, clone human beings, launch satellites etc., and keep moving ahead on one side, some of these calamities make us pause and wonder if we are investing our time, effort and money in the right direction ? - for example, in this instance, should we have focused on building better facilities, amenities that can sustain nature's fury ?
There are millions of voices blaming the governments for being ill-prepared to handle such situations, the NRIs being the prominent of the lot. To a certain extent it may be true as the government hasnt taken stern action on moving some of the millions who live in crooked alleys and ramshackle buildings and also letting the cities grow boundaryless without any control. However as the Chief economist of ABN Amro has said, if a similar lashout had happened in London or Singapore, those cities would have also probably been shut out and pretty much would have faced the same situation. Coming to think of it, how can one forget the complete shutdown of Washington, DC during the Winter 2002 when the Mayor announced that the district is simply not equipped to face that kind of snowfall.
Iam not defending the government's shortcomings here. But what is important is what needs to be done. Governing is prioritizing. And if the Maharashtra govt can turn deaf to nasty voices from Bal Thackerays and pay little importance to Abu Salems and Chotta Rajans and place their highest priorities to provide better amenties for people welfare, things will certainly be different. Similarly those of us who have been voicing opinions can come up with more constructive and implementable ideas that can be put forth. The NRI portals and blogs can play a very crucial role here (which they are already doing).
India is in the limelight now. The Prime Minister has reached historical accords with US on nuclear policies just few weeks ago. We have backing of several nations on a UN Security council seat. Several world powers have acknowledged our growth. We are a fast growing economy.
And during these times, poor responsiveness, ineffective rescue measures, loss of lives due to floods & rains, bad healthcare etc., can do nothing but damage our international reputation. It is imperative that we look internally and have some of these gaps fixed to ensure faith of international community - and more importantly to care, safeguard and guarantee the lives of the millions of Indians. This is basic and this deserves topmost attention.
We may not be able to change the course of nature. Or even predict its fury well ahead. But what we can do is be equipped & prepared better as a community. What good it would be to have a permanent membership in UN Security council, if people living inside our own borders feel insecure frequently ?
Chao..
Nature is incomprehensible. One one hand it lashes out rains wreaking havoc and on the other hand, a few hundred miles away where people just clamour for droplets of water, the rains dont make any appearance at all.
The recent rains in Mumbai has left everyone speechless. The death toll is officially close to a thousand. Several thousands have been rendered homeless. Only half an year ago it was the raging seas that caused an epic disaster in the southern parts of asia damaging millions of lives.
It only goes to prove the point that as man keeps making astounding progress in science & technologies, there is a force that tries to keep all of us in check. While we have the capability to develop nukes, clone human beings, launch satellites etc., and keep moving ahead on one side, some of these calamities make us pause and wonder if we are investing our time, effort and money in the right direction ? - for example, in this instance, should we have focused on building better facilities, amenities that can sustain nature's fury ?
There are millions of voices blaming the governments for being ill-prepared to handle such situations, the NRIs being the prominent of the lot. To a certain extent it may be true as the government hasnt taken stern action on moving some of the millions who live in crooked alleys and ramshackle buildings and also letting the cities grow boundaryless without any control. However as the Chief economist of ABN Amro has said, if a similar lashout had happened in London or Singapore, those cities would have also probably been shut out and pretty much would have faced the same situation. Coming to think of it, how can one forget the complete shutdown of Washington, DC during the Winter 2002 when the Mayor announced that the district is simply not equipped to face that kind of snowfall.
Iam not defending the government's shortcomings here. But what is important is what needs to be done. Governing is prioritizing. And if the Maharashtra govt can turn deaf to nasty voices from Bal Thackerays and pay little importance to Abu Salems and Chotta Rajans and place their highest priorities to provide better amenties for people welfare, things will certainly be different. Similarly those of us who have been voicing opinions can come up with more constructive and implementable ideas that can be put forth. The NRI portals and blogs can play a very crucial role here (which they are already doing).
India is in the limelight now. The Prime Minister has reached historical accords with US on nuclear policies just few weeks ago. We have backing of several nations on a UN Security council seat. Several world powers have acknowledged our growth. We are a fast growing economy.
And during these times, poor responsiveness, ineffective rescue measures, loss of lives due to floods & rains, bad healthcare etc., can do nothing but damage our international reputation. It is imperative that we look internally and have some of these gaps fixed to ensure faith of international community - and more importantly to care, safeguard and guarantee the lives of the millions of Indians. This is basic and this deserves topmost attention.
We may not be able to change the course of nature. Or even predict its fury well ahead. But what we can do is be equipped & prepared better as a community. What good it would be to have a permanent membership in UN Security council, if people living inside our own borders feel insecure frequently ?
Chao..
10 comments:
Well crafted blog.
No one can do anything about 37 inches of rain - It *will* paralyze any nation - developed or otherwise.
What we need to prioritize on - It is a bit of all - (you may have all the infrastructure, but worry about the global presence or you may not have the infra. but global presence.)
shiva correctdhan
infrastructure is important
most of our cities are unplanned
what to do.
Take Madras most unplanned city.
I agree with Arivind... The important aspect here is not how we face the disaster..it how we recover from it... We cannot win the nature...but good planning / infrastructure could minimize the after effects of such calamity.
Shiva...the question is not loss of property..its loss of life. London or S'pore may have lost property but not as many lives. And thats what is disheartening.
And if the Maharashtra govt can turn deaf to nasty voices from Bal Thackerays and pay little importance to Abu Salems and Chotta Rajans and place their highest priorities to provide better amenties for people welfare, things will certainly be different.
Are you asking the government to turn a deaf ear and pay little importance to law and order issues ? Its like asking a man to choose between his 2 eyes ? Not logical.
BTW...what happened to the much hyped "Disaster Management Authority" that was created in the wake of the Tsunami. As usual no money, no power, no resources. Same old bullshit.
I agree no one can do anything about 37 inch rain.But atleast the weather dept should have been able to predict the rain for the day and alert the authorities.
And agian we wont learn anythign from the disaster, we will wait for another one to show our support and sympathy for those affected.
Absolutely Senthil. We did not learn from the Orissa Cyclone couple of yrs ago, did not learn from the earthquake in Gujrat, did not learn from the Tsunami, and not will not learn from the Mumbai Cyclone. The story goes on...
Siva,
Execellent blog.I agree with all comments.We didn't learn from past disaster and we are not ready to spend money to develop infrastructure.
Prakash.A
Thanks anon, arvind, rags, ganesh, eshwar, senthil and prakash...
if any of you get a chance do read India 2020 - by APJ Abdul Kalam. It is a slightly old book (1998). I have read only the first few chapters, it appears very relevant .....
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