Everyone knows it now! The all fearsome flash floods that almost washed away the most valued zones of our Dev Bhumi with a lightening swiftness crushing everything around with the thunderous savagery of cloud bursts that unleashed a sudden terrain terror with most unthinkable water fury.
It swept hundreds away, killed many under debris, toppled structure after structure and went on devouring anything and everything while gushing down its way to more terrible disasters … That finally destroyed roads, highways, shops, markets, hotels, dharmsalas' colonies and the whole townships , making over a lakh devote- citizens stranded in most inhuman conditions ,… uncared for and crying loud for help!!
Civil administration was apathetic and impotent. Their callousness lingered on its deadly impact, making a mockery of peoples minimum rights and the responsibility of the Government and civil administrations to care for citizens in crisis time. Such was the unpreparedness of the civil administration that it forced thousands of 'CHAR DHAM' pilgrims get stranded for days under the open sky without food . And even after over a week's time, many stories of peoples miseries and negligence of the administration are still unfolding.
…How just no one was there to give prior alarm, to guide, to help or to assist. No one was there to stop many cruel inhuman vandalism that followed. When thousands got stranded without food and anger and desperation grew by minutes none was there to help and console. Banks were looted. There was complete loot in Kedar Nath Temple: chains snatched, a bottle of drinking water sold for Rs 100 …and anything anyone could do , but there was no semblance of the civil administration doing its duty.
Wrapped in their lethargy, arrogance and myopia, our great officials were indifferent to the suffering citizens in those horrendous moments. How come, no one even question their lethargy, arrogance or plain blindness, except the suffering citizens, is even more difficult to guess. In fact, in this regard, the State Government has lots to answer. It seems that the members of our civil administration are still a victim of a colonial psyche…. They are blissfully unaware that they are not the masters. They are the servants….
Help came. But not in the shape of civil administration. It certainly came from the great pride of the nation - our army, air force and the ITBP- who were just there to do one of world's biggest and toughest rescue operation. With helicopter sorties bringing in 15 to 20 at a time, bridging roads, distributing foods, giving a hand to the trudging ones , a shoulder to a tired and crying child, lifting a grand ma' and seeing them all through to safety. In fact , their focussed mind was all for rescue and their hearts were all for the nation and its citizens. Working every second and staying alert for long hours every day, our these men of pride could do everything possible to rescue our trapped and stranded citizens in mountains, in jungle , on road , in water, under debris and could finally evacuate near a lakh with in a week, with limited resources, and unlimited difficulties of the tattered terrain. Hats up to all these great men of substance. They are matchless…. They offer a complete contrast to the lase, lazy, decadent and outdated members of the civil administration.
Our civil administration meticulously stunned our proactive, 21st century media. Our bold and enterprising men and women of media faced all hardship of the inclement weather and terrain and gave us a true peep into the magnitude of the tragedy….
The State of Uttarakhand was conceived on a great ecological vision. The grand, yet so young! Himalayan range, the virgin forests, the goodness of the Ganges and the Alaknanda, the heavenly clouds, the flora and fauna, the simple, smiling people and above all the abode of God and Goddess …! all these make Uttrakhand so beautiful, bountiful and blissful in such natural and spiritual ways that in the Bharat Bhumi , it is rightly called the Dev Bhumi - the abode of Gods!
Is anyone really now thinking of any new plan of actionIJ
Why not invite the disaster management experts, the environmentalists, the protagonists of development and hammer out a more long term yet effective development policyIJ Why not train the men and women in civil administration to be able to be crisis managers when it is needed the mostIJ Why not all political parties come together in crisis time and do it for the nation than talking about their own regions and reasons. And lastly, why not pull socks and fast rebuild the faith zone' of our nation where millions come every year with a hope that, once in a life time, a visit to the sacred Char Dham would put meaning to their lives in this life. State must organize a team of top most honest efficient and courageous civil servant from different state of the country and they must be given charge to rubulit the 'CHAR DHAM' with the help of present civil administrative of the state and CM. They shall rebuilt the market, roads, houses, dharmsala and put the balm on the wounds of those who have lost their near and dear one.
Never forget that the faith loving people of India wake up , sleep , greet or even die using the word RAM. They may tolerate corruption, inefficiency, mal nutrition, farmers suicides and all those sorrows to some extent giving the benefit of doubts to the 'failure' of the Government on all these fronts, but if they die without visiting the Char Dham once in a life time , their soul will die even before their death.
To call the Uttarakhand tragedy 'a Himalyan Tsunami cannot be an excuse for failures… The victims have been shocked to silence and their tears have dried up… Perhaps, the efforts to make up it's pristine glory may help the victims to get over their trauma to some extent…. This is the high time when leaders must refine their sensibilities and step out of the narrow minded political culture of 'Pappu and Phainku' syndrome.
(Writer is Chairman of Paras Foundation)