Bihar Floods - India's Katrina!

Survival is the name of the game!

Why doesn’t catastrophe choose its target more prudently? Pobably because it doesn’t have a heart. I bet it can’t have one. It is the turn of the impoverished Bihar to take a big blow this time. The raging Kosi river has immersed a population of over 25 lakhs and the aftermath paints a bleaker picture. Relief has started to flow in from all quarters and it is a welcome thing. I just hope that it reaches the right people. Not too long ago in history, in 2005 more precisely, the blue eyed boy of Bihari babudom, Gautam Goswami, misappropriated flood relief fund in collusion with the tainted politicos. What’s more, that guy was felicitated by Time magazine before law caught up with him. Anyways, that’s a different story altogether. Now is not the time to be cynical. It is time for action!

Could it get any worse?

The worst part of the floods happening in Bihar is that not everyone is sensitive to it. Not because they care less but because we have all grown used to watching suffering people in Bihar. Their current situation doesn’t seem anything dramatically different. It might as well be because those affected are poor, living in such abject conditions that their existence or non-existence for that matter doesn’t make any difference to others. No one cared when the warning bells were sounded and when it became a disaster of massive proportions, blame game ensued. Despite floods being a frequent occurrence in these regions, we still don’t have disaster relief teams in place. We tend to deal with problems as and when they strike.

The good news is that there is a mobilization by young people on a personal level through electronic media and voluntary organizations. Let us start by making a difference at our own individual levels as well.

It is all that is left now..

Please visit the links:
http://biharflood.wordpress.com/
http://www.indiawaterportal.org/bihar/

to learn more about the disaster and pledge your support. The people NEED it!