Where's the comparison?

I was just going through the newspaper, and came up perusing through a journalist's opinion on the marked difference in the manner in which Mumbai and London reacted in near "similar" situations. And I am shocked. Just where the journalist concerned even managed to make a connection between the two cities was beyond me.

Admitted, London faced the twin terrorist attacks of 7/07/2005 and 21/7/2005 remarkably well, and in truth, having visited it just two days prior to the first attack, the entire British administrative system is very much efficient, and for such an administration to react so very effectively to such an event is not something unusual. That police, fire personnel, medical crews, etc. emergency efforts were immediately deployed on a war footing may have lessened the casualties in these dastardly acts goes without saying. And yet, there is no scope to compare Mumbai with London.

Mumbai has a predominately middle class population, residing in areas with semi-effective, or in some areas, completely ineffective drainage systems, something that one is hardly going to encounter in London. Then again, the garbage disposal habits of the average Mumbaikar aren't comparable to any of the average Londoners. The average administrative worker in Mumbai isn't enjoying as luxurious and as stress-free jobs as in cities in the developed countries. The moot point however is that Mumbai wasn't attacked by terrorists. The city was the victim of nature's fury, something no man can ever forecast, nor can one ever prepare adequately for it. The intensity of the rains, combined with the rising tidal waters and the garbage- clogged drains completely disrupted the water disposal systems of the city, causing massive flooding in major sections of the city.

A friend of mine wrote in his blog recently that the government shouldn't be deplored for its inability to do anything in such a case as in such situations, we observed that where people themselves found it hard to reach places, expecting the government or emergency workers to reach such locations is preposterous. Maybe, if Mumbai would have been, (God forbid), been afflicted with bomb blasts, as it has been in the past, and the government would have dealt with it as before, then these pesky journalists would comprehend the plans that this city has in place. London had the unfortunate luxury of suffering from just terrorist attacks. Mumbai suffered nature's wrath, and when nature's cross with you, not even the Gods can save you.

Post-floods analysis

Over the last one week, having seen all the news on TV, and read the same in the newspapers, I have, rather the city of Mumbai has made a very important discovery. There actually exists a river in the midst of our city! Come to think of it, our city now can be termed complete, at least in the geological sense. No really, we have hills, we have the ocean, we have lakes, we have marshy lands, we have the city itself made up of islands, and now we have a river. And yet, how this fact remained hidden for so long is not really surprising.

Mumbai has always been a city which has really been unconcerned with its environment. Yes, we have people like the BNHS, and the WWF-Mumbai, who are always making comments about how the environment in the city has been steadily degraded, and how it would eventually harm us. But no, we wouldn't listen to them, and why should we? Caring for the environment was for the rich and the famous, not for the middle class and the lower classes. After all, who else has the time and energy to devote to such causes when one has a army of mouths to feed every month? So, we continued to dump our garbage in the open nullahs, silently encouraged the construction explosion that has wracked the city, and in the process, weakened those forces which actually protected us.
Not many of us are aware of the existence of a unique ecosystem at the very edges of our city, where the ocean meets the islands. The marshy mangroves, traditionally, and very rightly associated with the stink of a sewer, actually are amongst the most diverse and most useful ecosystems in the world. These mangroves function as the filters of our filth, the sickening sludge that we send into the ocean, and in the process maintain some semblance of cleanliness. Very recently, it was proven that in those areas of Tamil Nadu where the mangroves were not destroyed, the tsunami's force had a nearly 40% diminished intensity, and to say the least, the casualties in such areas also were minimal.
But then, who the hell cares about some stinky mangroves? Fine, let's look at the Mithi river now. Originating from Virar lake, this rivulet snakes through most of the western suburbs, and finally empties itself in the Mahim bay. Most of the city's major drains flow into this natural drainage stream. However, over the years, rapacious building activity on either side of the river has narrowed the river's width, and has transformed the once-massive river into a pale shadow of its former self. When the Bandra-Worli Sea Link was being constructed, or rather when the process started, 4.7 hectares of land was deemed necessary to be reclaimed for structural integrity purposes. The Government reclaimed 47 hectares of land, and in the process nearly blocked the river's path to the ocean.

And this has now caused the havoc that we are all seeing in the western suburbs. The rains have caused the source of the Mithi, the Virar lake, to overflow, causing a cascade of water to gush towards the sea. The narrow banks of the river cannot hold this quanta, and overflow as expected, flooding the adjoining areas. The city's drains find themselves blocked, and hence the waters that ought to be drawn away from the affected areas are pushed back towards the same areas. And then the river being deprived of an outlet to the sea, can only push against the reclaimed land, but to no avail. So the waters again flow back towards the source, and the result is there for all to see. The flooded Kalina and Andheri areas now have borne the brunt of the fury of the desecrated river.

Many have postulated that what this city needs is a good drainage system. Unfortunately, that's only half of the solution. Unless the government improves the efficiency of the existing system, any additions to it will be money thrown down the drain. Also, there is need to stop the destruction of the mangroves, which in the end, can prevent flooding by drawing the waters into the marshy lands. And last but not the least, there is need to restore the Mithi river to normalcy, maybe not to its fullest, as that remains an impossible dream, but maybe to a level wherein the river can execute its natural functions effectively and to everyone's benefit.

Ours is to not reason why, ours is to do and die

Just last month, the city was exultant in its glee whence the rains poured down upon it, banishing the scorching heat of the summer to its fiery prison for another year. And now, when one queries those who have lost so much to these very rains in the deluge of Wednesday, one cannot but help being surprised by the complete lack of any rancour for the heavens. No one, in their grief, ever stops from blaming the Gods for having caused them so much pain, and yet in the end, it is in this faith that the aggrieved rest their weary heads and sleep a slumber uneasy.

For the agriculturists, the wet spell is a blessing, and truly so, for this means a good harvest, a good produce, and slightly better incomes for the coming year. For the people in the cities, those whose homes have been washed away by the waters, this spell is the worst joke that the Gods could have played on them, and yet they do not blame Them as much as one would expect. Maybe, because the Indian people are so attuned into the cycles of karma and destiny, that they associate even with such disasters a sense of karmic belief. Having borne disasters such as communal riots, bureaucratic ineptitude, and political chicanery, the people now have become so resilient to such natural catastrophes that they almost seem zombie-like.

Speaking of bureaucratic ineptitude, I just read in the newspaper today that prior to Wednesday, the state Government's Disaster Management Committee had many meetings wherein rather than focusing on the need of the hour, i.e. making sure that the state was prepared to handle the vagaries of the monsoon, our leaders were more keen on doling out aid to those who have suffered in the droughts of summer. No offense to those who have suffered, yet, I do feel its too little, too late. The city of Mumbai is a showcase of how the bureaucracy has messed up.

This city, touted as the economic capital of India, was brought to a standstill within five hours of the rains pouring down. Of course, full-blooded Mumbaikars know that this is a regular phenomenon, and there is no new thing about this. And yet, Wednesday was different. Because unlike every year, the waters didn't just cause transport to grind to a halt, they virtually choked the city. Waters rose to nearly 4-5 feet in some areas, inundating vehicles and homes alike. People reached their homes nearly 24-36 hours after they had left from their offices. Some never quite made it, as the landslides in suburban Mumbai have well illustrated. And yet, Mumbai survived, the people of Mumbai have lived to tell the tale.

The credit for this goes not to our government officials, but to the people themselves. Scores of people, who really ought to have been sheltering themselves in cosy homes, drinking hot tea, and having hot bhajiyas (onion fries), came out on the roads to help their comrades to reach home safely. When the situation appeared really desolate, these Samaritans provided the stranded souls with biscuits, wafers, hot tea, clean drinking water, and any other assistance that could be given at such short notice. The radio stations continuously blared out messages to stranded people from their family members, imploring them to stay put, and wait for the situation to improve. Social service organisations came out on the roads to try to clear the roads, and assist pedestrian traffic.

Perhaps, when Lord Tennyson wrote the lines 'Ours not to reason why, ours is to do and die', he may not have imagined that the Mumbaikar had made it his/her anthem. For, not for a moment, did the Mumbaikar reason as to why he ought to do what he did that day, he simply plunged to his comrade's rescue, to assist and provide complete strangers succour, when they needed it the most, maybe with the thought that someday when they should need help, some stranger will extend the same hand forward, and complete the circle of humanity, the circle of magnanimity.

The rains have come!

Change is good, especially when it's with respect to the weather. The weather for the last few days has been extremely unbearable, and the absence of the rains didn't make things any better. But, now there are no complaints. The life-giving waters have arrived, and the world, at least Mumbai, has plenty reasons to rejoice.

As I write this, I can see beautiful scenes of an exultant Nature. Magpie robins, bulbuls, and birds of myraid colours, all frolicking in tiny pools of water, are shrieking in delight. Everything appears so clean, so fresh, that one cannot resist going out and getting wet. This is the season when the cobs of roasted corn by Chowpatty tastes the best. When coffee and tea in the balcony seems like the ambrosia of heaven. When the sea seems like a beautiful maiden, dancing in her best attire. When the skies tell the sun and the moon, "Shine less brightly for a few days, for you deserve the rest."

This is when we can reasonably expect to get some rain holidays. Maybe that's why we term the monsoon, as the mon"soon", as if telling it, "Mon, come soon". Because, everything that it brings alongwith it is so very enjoyable, so very delightful.