India - A Disaster Waiting to Happen

With the media frenzy over the BCCI dying out, there's this thing about environmental disasters. Uttarakhand is badly affected and we have always maintained that India is an environmental disaster waiting to happen. The problem is that what environmentalists have been shouting reaches our potentates through a long hall as a distant echo. Hm. Forests are torn down or burnt, buildings are constructed with scant regard for the trees and rivers that form the eco-system in which we live. On our recent trip to Kerala we found garbage dumped all over roads in Ernakulam, Kerala's premium city. When we asked our brother we were informed that the city has no waste disposal system and they they pay to have their garbage taken away. Well, whoever imagined. Whoever imagined "God's Own Country" didn't have a waste disposal system. That too, in the premier city of the state. No wonder there are outbreaks of malaria, dengue, and chikengunia (hope I got the name right).

What are the reasons, the causes for such massive floods and landslides. Is it only the environment? True with global warming more clouds form and they have to come down as rain. That could be one of the specious arguments (we researched this online and found no creditable correlation).

We need to slow this mad scramble for development. We need to pause our crazy obsession for unhindered development and ask ourselves, "is this the way we should be going?" Have we gone horribly wrong somewhere, let's think, let's talk. If the environment has gone wrong we can still alter it, provided things aren't too far gone out of control. Today we read about the plan to mine the entire stretch of the Western Ghats and have learnt that it has been stopped by howls of protest. 

We dig up and exploit our earth, for what? Then what? Environmental disasters like the ones we are witnessing?

We saw this beautiful sight of our soldiers lying down in line to let some children pass over a river. We were touched. We always call upon the army for help during calamities and they oblige. Thank almighty we have such dedicated men defending our country. Really, it's shameful how we think selfishly of our own comforts when those men in uniform are there out in the rain, cold, and heat defending us, our country.

Bravo, Jawans!