Hello everyone. I know this is not a
time for blog posts but yeah, I could not help bringing a few points. As we all
know, Kerala is facing a huge crisis in the form of flood and lakhs of people
have been stranded homeless. They are in the relief camps without adequate
medicines, clothes etc. Locals are trying their best to help the stranded
people. Besides, the defense, the local police, and the Kerala State
Electricity Board (KSEB) are working day-night without rest to save lives.
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| Kerala from above |
For those who do not have an idea of
the floods in the state, let me give you guys a brief one. Kerala receives one
of the heaviest rainfalls in India, nearly 3000 millimeters annual average.
This is a long-term average over half a century. If one compares it with the
other states, Tamil Nadu gets 912.4mm, Haryana gets a mere 554.7mm, while Assam
gets 2296.8mm and Madhya Pradesh gets 1048.4mm. But this year, from June 1 2018
(the onset of South- West monsoon in India) to 15 August 2018, Kerala received
an excess rainfall of 30%. The average rainfall over this period should have
been 1606.5mm but we have received around 2086.8mm. The Idukki district, which
has the major dams like the Idukki- Cheruthoni- Kulamavu dam complex,
Mullaperiyar dam etc., has received a whopping 70% excess rainfall. All five shutters
of the Idukki project had to be opened for the first time in 26 years and has
remained so for the past one-week or more. Please note that the Idukki dam is
the largest double arched dam in Asia, so one can understand the gravity of the
situation if the dam had to be kept open. As of now, the dam is releasing 15
lakh liters of water every second and this has added to worsen the already
pathetic situation due to rains. The shutters of 35 out of 39 dams of the state
have been opened and red alert has been issued in all the 14 districts of the
state. Hundreds of people have died as
far as officials know and the death toll might increase once the water levels
go down. More than 3 lakh people are living in the relief camps that have
opened up in many places of the state. Around 20,000 crore of destruction has occurred
and this amount is expected to rise even up to 50,000.
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| Idukki Dam with all its shutters open |
What one should note is the
exceptional work done by the Navy, Army and Air Force. They have been
constantly working day and night trying to rescue people by both boats and
helicopters and airdropping essentials in case rescue is not immediately
required. The local police have also commendably worked hard to do their best
even though they are facing such a situation for maybe the first time. The
state electricity board staff have been working under dangerous situations in
the heavy downpour to ensure electricity is reaching the maximum people. However,
the reason I had to write this article is a few things people did that actually
disturbed me.
1) I
happened to see a media clip of a person talking to a reporter. He was a local
affected by the floods, this was a time when the Indian Army had just arrived
for the rescue work, and the Navy had not started its operations. The Army had
come with fiber boats but many of them were exhausted of their fuel soon. Moreover,
what hurt me most was this person complaining that the army was working in such
an uncoordinated way and that they did not bring with them the fuel. What he
should have realized is that the Army are also human and they brought the
maximum goods they could bring including the rescue equipment, food, drinking
water and medical help. We cannot expect them to carry the heavy fuel tanks as
well. It is our duty to provide them with the necessary fuel (which was done
later by the oil companies). This person wanted the heavy ships of Navy to be
deployed. How can a huge Naval warship travel on tiny roads filled with water
of uneven depths on which even normal fishing boats could not even travel?
Fiber boats were the best option available and this person was heartlessly complaining.
2) My
parents observed this one and the next one as they were going to a relief camp
for providing some goods. We have a Beverage Corporation (Alcohol) shop around few kilometers away. Fortunately, our area is kind of in a higher area and hence there
has been no flooding as of now. So coming back to the alcohol shop, the queue
in front of it was huge. The government had imposed a 30% increase in alcohol
beverages to compensate for the destruction due to floods. Even after this
hike, there were people buying the alcohol when hundreds of people around the
city were striving for a drop of drinking water. They could at least give up
this luxury for a few days and donate that amount for the relief work.
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| Idukki dam Front view |
3) The
Kochi Metro Rail Limited (KMRL) had suspended it operations due to water
logging in its marshaling yard, which disrupted its power supply. As the roads
to the city got water logged, both the road and railway services had to be
discontinued. The metro was the only option and they did their best and started
the service. The rides were free of cost so that the stranded people could
travel to safer parts of the city. However, what actually happened was that,
people from the city started using metro to go and see the flooded areas because
the ride was free. We, humans cannot help ourselves when we hear something is
free of cost. This action lead to the metro stations being filled with people
who had come to sight see the flood rather than the needy ones.
Are we really so cruel? Where has
humanity gone? The above are just the three points I observed and thought
people should know about. There might be
a thousand more examples out there of such inhuman behavior. I cannot call it ‘animal’
behavior because animals have a golden heart than ours. Please do say your
opinions on my personal observations. In
addition, please donate as much as possible to the relief funds, the state and
its people are in dire need of resources. You can do the donation through the
Amazon app as goods, through Paytm app as money or through the Kerala Chief
Minister Distress Relief Fund (CMDRF), the link of which I am attaching below. Also,
please share this link to people who will be able to donate to the same. Remember,
every little penny counts. Thanks a lot in advance for your help. Until next
time sweethearts, stay safe, take care and Pray for Kerala and its citizens.
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| Please donate as much you can |
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