MyVoice: Views of our readers 1st Aug 2024

Human activities drawing nature’s fury

The landslide leaving more than 150 people dead and many more injured in Waynad district of Kerala has shocked the nation. The repeated occurrence of natural calamities, particularly in Kerala, has turned nightmarish to the country these days. The response of disaster management teams and authorities in taking up rescue operations and rehabilitation is praiseworthy. First, the hot summer and the next erratic rainfalls have become a regular feature for India, making evident of quirky climatic changes.The country should get prepared with short- and long-term strategies to mitigate the nature’s fury. The Wayanad’s tragedy deserves to be declared national disaster.

Dr DVG Sankara Rao, Vizianagaram

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Some tragedies are beyond description and unfathomable. What Wayanad in Kerala is now going through is such a tragedy. It is noticeable that floods and landslides in this part of the country have increased in frequency over the months and years. It is also observable that the phenomenon of significant increase in the quantity of rainfall in a short spell of time exacerbates the extreme weather event of flood. Decreasing forest cover due to construction activities and excessive mining seems to make Wayanad more susceptible to landslides. Warming of the Arabian Sea is found to be linked to the alteration to the deep cloud systems and, by extension, to floods and landslides. Human activities that render the Western Ghats more vulnerable to natural disasters or extreme weather events must stop.

G David Milton, Maruthancode, TN

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“Kerala, known as God’s Own Country, faces its heaviest disaster as massive landslides in Wayanad claim over 100 lives (Hans India Dt 31-7-24). The tragedy is a stark reminder of our failure to maintain ecological balance, despite the warning signs from previous disasters like the Uttarakhand landslides. Heart-wrenching to see lives lost due to our inability to be more alert and proactive in preserving nature. The death toll may rise further as rescue teams, NGOs, and volunteers brave knee-deep mud and relentless rains to retrieve bodies. In this hour of need, the Central Government must extend financial and all possible assistance to the Kerala state government to support relief and rehabilitation efforts.”

Ganti Venkata Sudhir, Secunderabad

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For the sake of keeping environmental activism in check, the government appoints expert committees. Naive experts like Dr Madhav Gadgil suggest measures to follow environment-friendly development policies and in particular for Western Ghats. Way back in 2011, he recommended that 75% of 1,29,037 sq km as environmentally sensitive. Three years later the Dr Kasturirangan Committee brought this down to 50%. It is to be noted thereafter four drafts were prepared by either Congress-led UPA and thereafter BJP-led NDA. While the PM is right in criticising the elite environmental activists who personally don’t follow an environmentally friendly lifestyle, his government now in the name of development has been following some mining and development policies that are not friendly. The Wayanad government and all the governments are in the same boat.

N Nagarajan, Hyderabad

Seetharaman cannot be like Manmohan

Union Finance Minister Seetharaman has lambasted TMC’s Prof Roy as if he has demeaned those who qualified from Indian univetsities bereft of ideas since she didn’t get a Ph.D from Oxford like Manmohan or a Management Degree from Harvard like Chidambaram. For all those who observed these former two Finance Ministers, it is clear that they excelled and especially Manmohan and PV Narasimharao brought in economic reforms and enforced strict austerity measures. Manmohan is soft spoken and Chidambaram is known for his edifying speeches while Seetharaman seems to be beating round the bush in a vaingloirious move to defend her party instead of paying a patient heed to the voice of the Opposition. No honourable member of the House is bereft of ideas nor herself but apathy to the voice of dissent may be okay in JNU but not in Oxford or Harvard.

Dr T Ramadas, Visakhapatnam