on essay topic who is responsible for the Kerala floods
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Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) state president P S Sreedharan Pillai also blamed the Pinarayi Vijayan government for the deluge and said there was "lack of foresight" on part of the state.
Indian military personnel rescue a flood affected man in the southern state of Kerala.
As the operations to rescue those stranded in rain-ravaged areas in Kerala near completion, a political war erupted on Wednesday with Congress-led UDF opposition and BJP blaming the state government for a "man-made disaster".
Training its guns on the Left-led state government, Leader of Opposition in Kerala Assembly Ramesh Chennithala demanded a judicial probe into the circumstances that led to opening of shutters of 40-odd dams at a time in the state.
"The government had no idea which areas would be submerged when nine dams across the Pamba river, 11 dams in the Periyar in Idukki and Ernakulam districts and six across Chalakudy river in Thrissur were opened," he said.
Though there was an increase of 41.44 per cent rainfall this time, the flood situation worsened not because of the downpour, but due to the opening of shutters of 44 dams at a time without giving prior warning, the Congress leader alleged.
"It was a man-made disaster," Chennithala said.
Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) state president P S Sreedharan Pillai also blamed the Pinarayi Vijayan government for the deluge and said there was "lack of foresight" on part of the state.
However, Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB) chairman K P Sreedharan Nair denied the allegations, saying there was no lapse on part of the board which owns the dams and that they were opened only after enough alerts were issued.
There is no point in blaming the board for opening the dams as most of the rivers were overflowing due to heavy rains, he said.
Terming the charges as "baseless," Dam Safety Chairman C N Ramachandran Nair said, "Everyone knows water was rising in the reservoirs and rivers were in spate. Now the allegations are being levelled only for the sake of blaming somebody".
Amrita Singh, Chairperson, Special Centre for Disaster Research and Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) professor, attacked the state government and said the flood was not caused merely due to excess rain.
"This was caused by human blunder. The Kerala government could have prevented it, but did not have the foresight to do so," she said in a Facebook post.
Even as the controversy played out, Kerala turned its attention to cleaning of houses and public places which were damaged in the unprecedented rains that lashed the state.
As people left camps, many found mud and slush up to six feet level in front of their houses and interiors.
Fridges, television sets and other electronic equipment were all lying upside down in the turbid waters.
Many children lost their books and certificates. Many people lost their Aadhaar and ration cards.
"We will have to start afresh. Right from the beginning," a woman lamented.
Another major problem being faced by those returning home is the severe drinking water shortage as the wells are contaminated with muddy water.
Piped water supply is yet to begin in many places.
In a show of unity, a group of Muslim youths cleaned temples in Malappuram and Wayanad districts.
According to the Disaster Management State Control room, 231 people have lost their lives and 32 are missing in flood-related incidents since August 8.
Nearly 14.50 lakh people belonging to 3.91 lakh families are still lodged in 3,879 relief camps across the state.
The largest number of people in relief camps was in the worst-hit Ernakulam district with 5.32 lakh of them in 850 camps.
Though water has started receding in some places, areas near the river banks and Kuttanand in Alapuzha continue to be under water.
More than 3,000 squads under health and local self-government departments have started the process of cleaning houses and public places, official sources said.
Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has said most of the stranded people have been rescued and searches would continue in isolated houses to find if more persons were trapped.
The state, which suffered an estimated loss of Rs 20,000 crore in the deluge, has sought from the Centre a relief package of Rs 2,600 crore under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) and the centrally-sponsored programmes.
The state had also sought an immediate relief of Rs 2,000 crore to take up relief works.
The Centre had on Wednesday released Rs 600 crore assistance to the state.
The Chief Minister's Disaster Relief Fund (CMDRF) had received donations to the tune of Rs 309 crore till Tuesday evening through online and deposits in the special SBI account.
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) government has offered USD 100 million (about Rs 700 crore) to the rain-ravaged state.
LEAVE A COMMENT
Water is the most important natural resource on the planet, as it sustains all aspects of life in a way that no other resource can. Rains should always be welcomed. But Kerala is facing the worst flood in the last 100 years. Though flooding occurred because of heavy rains, no lessons have been learned from the earlier floods of Uttarakhand, Chennai, and Mumbai.
There is a flood in any part of India every year. All-time nature cannot be blamed and now the flood is human-induced. In Kerala, Firstly the forest are destroyed at a great speed even two central committees Gadgil and Kasturirangan committees clearly stated to preserve the fragile Western Ghats. But the state government had overridden these recommendations and speed up the development projects.
Secondly, the mining of the river basin and a huge settlement near the river basin. When there is a slight change in the level of the river, no barrier was there to project these settlements. The situation becomes worst when the gates of reservoirs in the Idukki system, a giant hydroelectric project, and several other dams have been opened, inundating riverside habitations downstream.
Kerala has many wetlands but this wetland has been captured by urbanization. The waste has been dumped into it. All these lead to flooding of wetland.
Thirdly, Urbanization the cities are growing at a faster pace on the forest land, wetland, and coastal land. All these lead to deforestation. The planning of cities is of worst; there is no proper drainage system. Water is logged in the city. The government should use technology like satellite imagery data through Bhuvan (a software application developed by ISRO) and National Urban Information System (NUIS) to map natural drains. Unauthorized construction activities in natural drainage areas should be checked. This will help the water to take its natural course. Drainages, both natural and man-made, get blocked due to fillings by mud, plastic, etc.
Though climate change and other effects on the environment may be the reason for these floods, they are also aggravated and occur frequently in big cities because of anthropogenic activities. There is a need to integrate all the development activities with the environment-friendly technology. It includes better catchment management (afforestation), Controlling runoff (by creating reservoirs), Detention basins (to bypass excess water), Dams (to control flow), Protecting wetlands.