The Hindu Business Line : And, the bad news continues…

Continued tensions in the Kashmir Valley, the intense suffering of people in flooded Bihar, unending violence in Orissa and the face-off at Singur have combined to make the prevailing gloom across the country even darker, says RASHEEDA BHAGAT.

A well-organised disaster management system is the crying need right now, as the slow and inadequate response in Bihar has shown. — Reuters

The general feeling of gloom and doom across the country, mentioned in this column last week, arising from the tension in Jammu and Kashmir, the violence in Orissa or the face-off in Singur, has just worsened.

Worse, Nature’s fury, in the form of the Kosi river, or the River of Sorrow, has been added to the hatred, aversion, communal polarisation and revenge whipped up by man, unleashing unimaginable suffering in Bihar. The very scale of the tragedy i s devastating; 2-3 million people have been rendered homeless and scores of lives have been lost.

As entire villages have been swept away by the fury of the waters, the official number of deaths — around 100 — seems to be an understatement. As reports of untold human misery emanate out of the State, it is evident that Nature is not entirely to blame; accusations are being traded across Nepal and India; on poor maintenance and failure to repair breaches.

One distressed farmer has even filed a case against Bihar’s Water Resources Minister, holding him (his Department) responsible for the breach in the Kosi’s embankment. What else can the poor and the helpless do?

Botching up of relief work

But the greatest distress for Indians elsewhere in the country, and much more so in Bihar, is to watch helplessly, once again, the terrible botching up of the organisation and distribution of aid. As many as 16 districts of Bihar have been affected; and one must be grateful that help has been pledged and given from different parts of the country — the donors ranging from different State governments to students in New Delhi.

But the organised and, more important, timely distribution of this aid, particularly food packets, is simply lacking.

Amid heart-rending pictures of people who have not only lost all that they possessed, but also dear ones — mothers wailing for their missing children is the strongest image from this tragedy — there are reports of the chaos that prevails in the distribution of relief. Evidently, trucks carrying aid have piled up as the relief distribution network in the affected areas is in disarray, with no proper central command and effective dissemination networks in place.

The Navy has swung into action in a big way, as the urgent need is to get people out to safer areas, as water continues to inundate villages. NGOs and volunteers are doing all they can, but a well-organised disaster management system, either at the Central or State Government level, is the crying need right now.

Different regions of the country have been struck by natural disasters innumerable times, but a hotch-potch relief and rehabilitation response is all that we can drum up each time. Past disasters have taught us little, in terms of management and we continue to bumble around such tragedies, with hardly a clue on how disaster management systems are supposed to work.

Impasse continues at Singur

In West Bengal, meanwhile, the impasse at Singur continues, though some good should come from the sensible intervention of a person as dignified as the West Bengal Governor, Mr Gopalkrishna Gandhi.

In a letter to the Trinamool Congress chief, Ms Mamata Banerjee, requesting her to name a mediator of her choice to study the Singur issue and give recommendations to sort out things, he has eloquently said: “The grace of accommodation is not unavailable in the most obdurate of situations.” He has also warned of social costs, with the poor and the weakest being the worst sufferers when such issues are not resolved.

This might be absolutely true but the problem is that, when our politicians mount their high horses on any particular issue, “grace of accommodation” takes a big toss, as political brownie points are sought to be scored. How else can one describe the Samajwadi Part General Secretary, Mr Amar Singh’s presence at Mamata’s dharna?

Ordinary mortals should be excused if they are totally confused by his presence at a meet held to register protest against an industrial project. Last heard, he was a big votary of industrialisation and the free market economy.

He had this to say in response to a TV channel anchor’s comment that he might have joined Mamata’s protest because his close friend Anil Ambani’s elder brother Mukesh Ambani had spoken out in favour of the Nano project in Singur: “This is disgusting”, he said.

The rest of his statement was all about how Tata Motors had also approached him to locate the Nano plant in Uttar Pradesh, when the Samajwadi Party was in power, but that he had asked them to “please go to West Bengal if you are getting so much land there.” Apparently, his heart bleeds for farmers too.

It is heartening to note that the CII spokespersons and various industrialists have come out to support the Nano project in Singur. But one is surprised that there is only a muted and half-hearted attempt by the rest of the West Bengal community to express support for the project — that is if non-political and unbiased people really believe that the project is good for the State.

Of course, there have been a few candlelight vigils by some IT employees and others in favour of the project, but nothing substantial that can send a clear signal to the politicians about where the people’s sympathies really lie.

All eyes are now on Mr Ratan Tata, on whether he will walk the talk and really pull out of Singur. Of course, he comes through clearly as a man who is not known for rhetoric or empty threats, and now that he has challenged the forces against the Nano plant in Singur, saying he does not want his industry to remain in a place where it is “unwanted”, the writing appears to be on the wall.

There is intense speculation that, in order to adhere to the deadline of the Nano’s rollout before the year-end, even though Tata Motors might not pull out completely from Singur, the Nano might actually be brought out from another location. This would be a huge challenge, but is not undoable for an industrial giant such as the Tata group.

Kashmir still simmers

On the Amarnath shrine land issue too, there seems to be little to cheer; while Jammu is happy that the formula now thrashed out will make available the forest land in the Valley near the Amarnath cave to the Shrine Board for three months every year, the Hurriyat leaders and other hawkish politicians of Kashmir, like the People’s Democratic Party, have rejected this solution.

This means there will be no quick end to the violence and bloodshed in the Kashmir Valley. The speed with which Kashmir, perceived to be returning to “normalcy” in the last couple of years, has plummeted back to the 1990s kind of mood, is scary.

There are strident voices that Kashmiris will settle for nothing less than “resolution” of the problem (read aazadi). As these voices grow louder and extremist elements once again gain the upper hand in the Valley, Kashmir can say goodbye to the couple of good tourist seasons it has had in the recent past. No holiday-maker wants to take the risk of being kidnapped or held for ransom.

In Orissa, too, the violence refuses to abate; the VHP has vowed to avenge Swami Lakshmananda’s killing and, as their cadres let loose their rage on the Christian tribals there, places of religious worship are being targeted and there is an atmosphere of fear and terror in that region.

Amidst such dark pictures of gloom, small wonder that at the close of last week, when there was a marginal fall reported in the inflation figures, the equity market did a jig on Friday and the Sensex danced up by a merry 500 plus points.

Surrounded as we are with so much horror and violence and suffering, any bit of positive news is enough for exuberant behaviour. Just as, at the Olympics, we were absolutely happy to settle for a miserable tally of three medals. Everywhere else, we want to compete with China and let it be known that we have the edge; but when it comes to sports, we cannot even find our voices.

Of course, it is another matter that China manages to excel at certain things, like the recently concluded Olympics, by resorting to all means at its disposal. But that’s another story.

Response may be sent to rasheeda@thehindu.co.in

Related Stories:
Taming of the Kosi
A point of no return?
It’s more than just land

More Stories on : Economy | Natural Calamities | Politics | Rasheeda Bhagat

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