Skip to main content

The Chennai Rain Story


Chennai:

It's raining! What a pleasant weather! It's tea-pakoda or at least idli-sambhar time! Perhaps this was the reaction of people of Chennai when they are unaware of the devastation that this rain is going to cause. But soon there was waterlogging everywhere in the city and water level in the river rose above the danger mark. The whole city is endangered with the risk of floods. The pleasant weather is no longer enjoyed by anyone. Everyone is just praying to the god to stop the rain. But the rain didn't stop and now water is overflowing with water bodies towards the city. A Man shouted in the Tamil language which means "bhaago paani aa raha hai". It created a situation of panic among the people. People inside their homes could hear the loud splash of water and other people's voices. They came out of their house to check what's going on and found the water is coming towards their house or has already entered. People above the ground floor looks confused whether to go up or down. As per situation, some preferred to abandon their homes and move to a safe place by treading water while others went to the roof of their houses. In the course of moving through water, many of them drifted away by the water currents. People are becoming desperate as rain continued and consequently water level rising day by day. Stress, hunger and anxiety can be noticed on everyone's face who are stranded. The kids are crying making the situation worse. This is also giving rise to irrational but relevant thoughts like “This flood is the consequence of human sins”, “God is being very unfair to us”, etc. The NDRF team begins the rescue operations. After some moment the entire city is overlapped with water. The transportation is completely blocked as the railway tracks and runways are under water. The boat is functional on the roads instead of cars, bikes or buses.

Image : Indian Express
The situation is going out of state's hands and thus the central government intervene and deploys Army, Airforce and Navy personnel in the rescue operation. With the aid of the heroes of India, hundreds of people are being rescued. Now people can see a "ray of hope" whenever they find a chopper flying above them or see a brave man in an army uniform is coming to save them. Well, the job of our armed forces is not rescuing people during natural disasters but they are doing this because they are capable of doing that and also find this as their moral duty to save lives of people who are dying. They did it during Kedarnath tragedy, Kashmir floods, Nepal earthquake, and now in Chennai rains. So we can say that our Army is the real "sankat mochan".

I also find there is a need to answer the irrational thought "This flood is the consequence of human sins". What are the human sins? Why did this unseasonal and unprecedented rain occur that led to floods? Well, I can't define the sins. But to answer why this kind of floods came in Chennai, we have to look it through a scientific glass. We are developing ourselves at an increasingly high rate. That's good, isn't it? Because of the development, the agricultural or spongy lands are being lost every day. The water absorbing capacity of the soil is decreasing and that is why we see even a small amount of rain causes waterlogging which did not use to happen if we go back 10 years. We are also preferring water repellent roads, buildings, etc. If there were no gravity we would have stop water in the mid-air! Obviously, we cannot stop our developmental programs but what we need is a scientific research in finding the eco-friendly way of developing our society. This is a great opportunity for scientists and entrepreneurs!

Comments

  1. Praying for city to return to normalcy soon

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. People should take this as a nightmare and move on. But the government must take appropriate measures so that such incidents can be avoided in future.

      Delete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Failure Of Clean India Campaign

We must applaud the Prime Minister Narendra Modi Step of massive Clean India Campaign which officially began from 2nd October 2014. Whenever he Speaks about cleaning India people all over India as well as people of Indian origin shouts Yes! "This is the man India was waiting for and needed for a long time, he will definitely change India". But after listening to Mr Modi's mesmerising speech we forget everything and start doing the same thing that we are doing for a long time. For example, we spit anywhere, we throw garbage at the place where we found plenty of them, we urinate anywhere we find suitable and comfortable like on the wall, on the bushes. One day I went to someone's house (typical Indian) wearing shoes One lady shouted: "How dare you to come into my house wearing shoes?" I was pretty shocked and I was feeling as if I have done a punishable offence!! Think for a while how much we do to clean our house. But we forget that this country ...

India Learning To Live With Air Pollution

After Diwali came the inevitable cloud of smog in Delhi. The fact that smog is going to arrive any moment was known to every single person living in Delhi, just the intensity of this smog was a bit surprising. And why not? The toxicity of air was 14-16 times more than the safe limit. The PM 2.5 level skyrocketed making people vulnerable to various respiratory problems. Usually when the smog checks in, a translucent greyish layer of air cover the city. But this winter, this layer was quite thick, almost opaque. As this year's smog came right after Diwali, a number of people directly blamed Diwali's crackers for it. On the other hand, some remain critical of the farmers of Punjab and Haryana who burned their paddy releasing poisonous gases in the air that reached Delhi through the wind. While both burning crackers or crops fairly invite criticism not because they polluted the air but because these actions could have been avoided or minimized. Diwali is celebrated everywhe...

Anatomy Of Suicidal Propensity And Life's Purpose

I don't know whether committing suicide is a courageous or cowardly act. And I think, taking a specific side here would be unfair. During evolution, our thinking power enabled us to survive. But, it has also provided us an option to end a messed up life. Suicide is a very serious psychological and philosophical problem that modern humans are facing today. Legally, it is a crime. Religion, too, never permitted this act. And, as a society, we don't want people to do it. To be, or not to be, that is the question: Whether ’tis nobler in the mind to suffer The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, Or to take arms against a sea of troubles, And by opposing, end them. To die, to sleep— But, when life becomes miserable, why would one let one's mind to suffer, when there is an option of suicide to attain peace? Why is everyone against suicide? Probably because, suicide is the violation of human survival interest. We are an adapting species and always believe tha...

Why Religion Should Not Be Downplayed

When you were a child and your parents told you stories about god, you listened to that with great curiosity and excitement, but as you grow older and started seeing everything with the rational eye of science, you realise that it was a lie, and so every religious event and ritual appears to you as an act of stupidity. Still, you keep worshipping the men or women whom you were told to worship as Gods. Why? Have you considered what is the significance of religion? Religion teaches us that God has created this universe and he is running it in his own way. The Sun, The Moon, Stars, Planets, Living creatures  — bacteria, viruses, plants, animals, humans are all the creation of God. We are just doing things ordained by him. It may appear that we are influencing things, but the reality is we, ourselves, are influenced by some heavenly forces. Indians, especially Hindus, are obsessed with rituals and other religious activities like holding fast and going to temple. Some of ...

Bihar Liquor Ban - The Political Perspective

Whether you call it Nitish Kumar's masterstroke for gaining publicity and support of people or a responsible chief minister batting for people's interests, on the face of it, it is great that Bihar is free from alcohol abuse. The Bihar excise (amendment) act, 2016 – a very old 1915 act has been converted into a very stringent law – is haunting the alcohol gang of Bihar. This law banned manufacturing, selling or consumption of liquors (strong or mild) and even prescribes the death penalty for the manufacturer, suppliers and sellers of hooch in case of death as a result of consumption of spurious liquors. Although Biharis can drink outside state boundary, they'll be punished if they create nuisance after returning home. The government had actually proposed to ban only 'desi' liquors. The sale of non-country or ‘Indian Made Foreign Liquor’ (IMFL) was allowed, although, with some caveats. However, within five days, the government extended the ban to IMFL as w...

The Indian Society And The Struggle Of Our Sports Fraternity

India, the world’s second-most populous nation, fails to show its dominance in sports. In fact, India's performance remains terrible except in few games. So, what's holding India back when it comes to competing in world sporting events like the Olympics? First, it's the conservative Indian mindset of the Indian society. You might be aware of the saying in India “ Padhoge likhoge banoge Nawab, kheloge kudoge banoge kharab ” which translates to “You can be a king if you study, can be spoilt if you play games.” Social life of a person who took the plunge of making a career in sports in India can be challenging and demotivating. An Indian parents or teachers, being part of the society, don't consider sports as a career. They have the biggest influence in a child's future ambitions. They may scold the child that “playing a sport will get you nowhere in life, but to make a life you need to be good in academics”. In other words, young Indians are discouraged from playing s...

Forgiveness - Your Way Towards Peace

Forgiveness is a divine power, something that ordinary humans are not entitled to have. And, those who have this quality are more than 'a human'. One, who is free from materialistic desire and, most importantly, the ego, is blessed with such divine power. Whether it is of physical or mental strength, weak cannot forgive others. Forgiveness is always an attribute of strong people. It is a trait of a mature person having deep inner control over his mind. This strength cannot be bought, it has to be earned. But, how would you earn that? I think spirituality may be the answer. There are multiple benefits of forgiveness. It directly influences our thinking process. It sets you free from the negativity building around and boosts positive personality. It saves energy which can be redirected to do productive things. It is also the key to longevity and good health. But, how will you forgive someone who is not even sorry for their action? How will you respond to evil with kindn...