Sir,
India is a country vulnerable to natural calamities such as earthquakes, avalanches, cloudbursts, floods etc.But the most common calamity faced by many people in India is the monsoon fury. India is primarily a rain fed country and it receives the three fourths of rain in the four months of summer monsoon.When there is very little or no rain, crops suffer and cattle get emaciated and weak and die for want of fodder.The owners are forced to sell them at much less price than that they would normally get.At the same time , excess rainfall, especially during monsoon causes havoc in north eastern, central and northern regions.Many rivers get flooded, breach embankments and subermge thousands of acres of agricultural land causing tremendous loss life of property and in some cases of life.
The roads are inundated due to blockage of drains, rainwater enters the shops and houses and lakhs of people are affected.During monsoon this year, many states including Maharashtra, Kerala, Rajastan, Gujarat, West Bengal, U.P.,Uttrakhand, Himachal Pradesh etc received heavy rain affecting normal life.In many places, roads were converted into ponds making it difficult for the pedestrians and drivers to travel on the roads.In some cases, bridges are damaged affecting vehicular traffic. In Uttarkhand cloudburst often cause loss of life and property.
Though the Government takes steps to deal with the situation, people do suffer a lot.The issue is why the government is not prepared in advance to deal with the situation effectively.As havoc caused by floods is a recurrent feature every year, the government should take preventive steps in advance.Lanes and drains need to be cleaned in advance to allow free flow of water.The people living in regions vulnerable to floods should be issued warning and relocated to safer places.In view of the fact that rains cause death and destruction every year, there is need for full time Department of Disaster Management with sufficient no of NDRF/SDRF personnel , foolproof disaster management plan and modern machinery to deal with the situation.People must also be enlightened about the safety measures to be followed before, during and after floods.Last but not least, we need to plant more trees to bring more area under forest cover because forest soil can absorb a lot of water and thus, help to prevent flash floods.
Ashok Sharma,
Udhampur
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