Opinion - Letters to the Editor   

Sorrow of Bihar

The havoc created by the floods of a surging Kosi has yet again exposed the Bihar government’s claim of preparedness. Every year, the situation is the same — many parts of Bihar are inundated and the people stranded in thousands. Then comes the announcement of relief by the Centre and the State government. Many promises are made and funds allocated but to no avail. A lack of commitment and improper planning by the government render everything futile. It is ironical to have floods and drought in different parts of the country at the same time. What happened to the project of interlinking rivers?

Rupesh Churiwal,

Jamshedpur

The Bihar floods are indeed a national disaster. It is important that the Prime Minister’s relief package reaches the affected. All Indians should stand by the people of the State at their hour of crisis. One hopes the National Disaster Management Authority will rise to the challenge.

C.K. Rahul,

Hyderabad

The loss of lives and property in Bihar floods is indeed tragic. Could we not have worked on a mechanism to divert the flood waters when the danger was sensed — before the embankments were breached? Proactive measures could have been taken to evacuate the people.

Prem Kumar Gutty,

New Delhi

Television images of the flood-affected areas are pathetic. Famished men, women and children desperate for food make for a heart-rending sight when they make frantic attempts to grab the food packets dropped from the air. The Bihar situation highlights the vulnerability of the poor to natural disasters. To tide over the unprecedented humanitarian crisis, everyone must lend a helping hand as was done during the tsunami.

G. David Milton,

Maruthancode

The floods have brought life to a standstill in northern Bihar. People from other States should come forward to help in every way possible.

The government should take more proactive steps to minimise the effect of natural disasters.

Jyoti Shokhanda,

Bangalore

Even after the severe flooding of eastern Bihar, according to media reports, very few army helicopters were pressed into service to rescue millions of people in thousands of square km of flood-affected areas. During election campaigns, any number of helicopters criss-cross the Bihar airspace.

Political parties manage to arrange as many helicopters as they want for electioneering. But the governments, the Centre and the State, and a professional army could not arrange sufficient number of helicopters and boats to save the lives of people stranded in the floods. What happened to the Bihar government’s much-touted flood preparedness?

Indravir Kumar,

New Delhi

It is impossible for the government, a few NGOs and the military to tackle a calamity of such a magnitude without enough funds and voluntary work. What is lacking in our country is public awareness. The people do not want to hear things about which they have to do something.

All private media houses should come together and take an initiative to help the flood affected. They should appeal to the people to donate money.

Sreejith K. Menon,

Thrissur

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Stories in this Section

The way forward in J&K
Re-conceptualising poverty
New light on global poverty?
Hurricanes: natural, political (& electoral?)
Building model campus communities
Corrections and clarifications
Sorrow of Bihar
Singur stalemate
Orissa violence

Copyright © 2008, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu