Torrential rain that almost paralysed two Telugu states of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh in the last three days is a national disaster in both letter and spirit. It has destroyed standing crops in huge swathes of land, marooned hundreds of villages, left thousands of people homeless and killed at least 35 people.
While districts along the course of the Godavari and Krishna, especially Khammam, Warangal, Suryapet and Mahbubabad districts, bore the brunt of the depression in the Bay of Bengal, the rainfall in Vijayawada was unprecedented, which is said to be the worst in the last 100 to 200 years. According to a preliminary estimate, the rains inundated crops in five lakh acres in Telangana and over one lakh acres in Andhra Pradesh.
Though state administrations in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh led by chief ministers A. Revanth Reddy and N. Chandrababu Naidu handled nature’s fury well, the Central government needs to step in to assist both the states in providing relief to the affected people. Without getting bureaucratic nitty-gritties or political discrimination, the Narendra Modi government should release required funds to state governments to alleviate the sufferings of people.
Even before the states could get a breather from the unprecedented floods, the Indian Meteorological Department warned of another low pressure area forming over the Bay of Bengal as late as on Thursday.
The frequent occurrence of natural disasters — be it torrential rains or drought — in recent times is blamed on climate change. As experts attributed extreme weather events to global climate change, there is no easy way for India to escape its impact. However, the governments should take a long-term and holistic view on urbanisation and ensure that development should be in harmony with nature. Unless humanity — without being confined to other narrower definitions — addresses the extreme weather events, agriculture will turn out to be riskier than gambling. In such a scenario, India, the largest populated country in the world, would be the biggest loser. Indian policymakers should, therefore, take the lead in finding a solution for climate change.
