I was watching the news on Mumbai yesterday on NDTV. Yes! We do get NDTV in Netherlands and also SET Max and Sony Entertainment Television too. Courtesy, of course Vijay. The major news stories were of course the Mumbai Rain and the Mumbai High Fire.
The whole of Mumbai was flooded in water and an oil platform in Mumbai High was burning. Ironical but true.
Mumbai got the highest rainfall yesterday. About 94.4 cms. That’s the highest after Cheerapunji in 1910 somewhere. At this rate, it was bound that Mumbai was going to flood. But what was bad was the way the channels focused on the inability of the government to handle the crisis. The situation was never expected to worsen so much.
The government may have been doing a lot but the way nature turned on its fury, it was a battle which they seem to loose. I am not supporting the government here but sometimes we just can’t be prepared for everything. Still the government cannot be totally forgiven for the irresponsibility. The problem started when the people were in offices and schools. If the government had given early warning, then it might not be that difficult. Now the MET department predicts heavy rain. Too late of a warning
It seems that the suburbs suffered more flooding because of the inefficient drainage system and the number of slums. The same news channel who blame the government for inefficient handling of rain, were the same people who accused the government of in-humanity when they tore down slums.
What do you want exactly? Everything should be as bad and still expect the things to be hunky dory when thing become worse. Sometimes you have to take hard decisions.
