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| Oh God, we are to Blame! | | | Omkar Dattatray
Oh, Pani ray Pani ray, Pani Bana Pareshani Ray, the monsoon is active these days and the situation has become fully uncontrollable. But all this is more because of human folly and less due to nature’s fury. September has stepped in but monsoon has not bid a good bye to people. Listen, Almighty, it is we the humans who are to blame for what has happened and what is happening in Jammu &Kashmir and many other parts of India due to the flash floods, landslides etc. The main cause of the mayhem, deaths ,destruction and devastation is the human greed, exploitation and its tinkering with the nature and natural balance .It is we people who are squarely responsible for the natural furry as it is not natural calamity which is the cause of concern but it is definitely the human tinkering with the nature’s scheming and playing ruthlessly and recklessly with the nature and its forms ,the woods, jungles ,rivers, rivulets ,streams ,trees et.al. that has resulted into natural fury. .If we want and are serious that nature should not play spoil sport with us and should not inflict injuries to us in the form of incessant, torrential and continuous rains, flash floods and landslides, we should behave in a responsible manner and not tinker the natures scheme of things and desist from destroying the natural environment, natural and ecological balance, natural habitats and wild animals and the nature then will be benevolent to us and will not wrought and bring havoc to us, our properties and surroundings. Passionately and unbiasedly seen, it is the exploitation of the nature and over indulgence with the natural things that creates havoc, destruction and devastation. Therefore if you are seriously thinking that natural calamities should not recure again and torment us and devastate our belongings ,we should stop reckless destruction of natural environment, flora ,fauna and abstain from playing with our ecological balance as the root cause of the natural fury which is accompanied with death , destruction and mayhem is the human greed, selfishness and wanton felling of trees, jungles, encroaching the banks of rivers, rivulets, streams ,pounds ,narrowing of the rivers and the like. In fact, all this means that we should restrain ourselves and not destroy the natural and ecological balance. All that is occurring to people in Jammu and Kashmir by the incessant rains, flash floods and landslides is in fact caused by the human negligence and carelessness coupled with over indulgence and exploitation with the things of nature. Himalayas are fragile by nature and they are susceptible to landslides and so we should not make them more fragile and delicate as it is bound to recoil and it in its turn destroy our life and properties. The safety of the society and humanity lies on the shoulders of the people and as for as possible, they should restrain themselves and not in the wildest dreams tinker with the bounty of nature as if man plays with the natures scheming. the nature in its turn will punish people and so we should not play with the nature but rather maintain ecological and environmental balance. If we will not amend, repair and rectify ourselves, no one can save us from doom and devastation and so we should reform and amend ourselves and our relation with the nature so that nature will not be angry on us and play cruel joke with us, our lives and belongings. Human folly acts as a primary cause of increased ‘’natural fury’’ by magnifying the destructive impacts of natural events. This is seen through activities like deforestation, the unplanned expansion of settlements into vulnerable zones, the dismantling of natural drainage systems, and poor disaster management, which all increase human vulnerability to events like floods, storms, and landslides. Rather than nature’s inherent fury being the sole cause, human actions often compound these events, turning potentially manageable occurrences into devastating tragedies for people and their infrastructure. It is human folly which worsens natural disasters.—A-Environmental Destruction—a—Deforestation---The removal of trees, such as mangrove forests eliminates natural barriers that protect coastal areas from storms and cyclones ,leaving communities more exposed.-b—Wetland Conservation---Wetlands are often converted for urban development and agriculture ,disrupting natural water drainage and increasing the risk of floods in built -up areas.—B—Unsustainable Development—a—Building on Vulnerable Slopes—Construction projects on unstable hillsides without proper geological consultation and engineering lead to slope erosion and increase the danger of landslides.—b—Chocking Drainage System---The creation of roads and construction that blocks natural water flow channels exacerbates flooding .C—Poor Disaster Preparedness—a—Inadequate planning—A lack of proper disaster management infrastructure and timely warnings contributes to greater loss of life and property during natural calamities.-b—Indifference and lack of Regulation---Civic authorities and populations often exhibit indifference to the environmental consequences of development ,allowing projects that disregard water channels and ecological balance to go unchecked. In essence while natural events like heavy rainfall, storms, or earthquakes are powerful human actions can significantly increase the vulnerability of settlements, transforming natural phenomena into intensified crises. Human folly can significantly exacerbate the impact of natural fury by increasing exposure to risks through poor urban planning, deforestation, pollution, and inadequate infrastructure, making natural disasters more devastating than before or than they would otherwise be. Human actions such as constructing in vulnerable areas, unsustainable development, and failure to implement proper warning systems contribute to compounded disasters, where human actions transform a natural event into a larger human-caused catastrophe. The, human folly exacerbates ‘’Nature’s fury’’. Following are the causes of adding to natural fury—a—Habitat destruction &Deforestation’s—Unsustainable urbanization. -c—Inadequate infrastructure. d-Environmental Degradation. e—Negligence in Disaster Preparedness. f—Over exploitation of resources.
Example of human folly and natural disasters—a Landslides in the Himalayas.-b-Flooding in Jammu—The destruction of natural shelter and short- sighted urban planning by policy makers and builders contributes to the devastating effects of heavy rainfall, making city vulnerable to floods. There is interplay of nature and humanity at work which causes death and devastation on a large scale. Unequal burden, rather, than solely blaming nature, the concept of nature’s fury or human folly suggests that human actions play a significant role in transforming natural hazards into widespread human disasters. The incessant rains, flash floods and landslides have caused death and destruction not only in Jammu and Kashmir but in several states of India. In Punjab,Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Chhattisgarh and some other places rains have caused havoc and led to death and destruction.In, national capital Delhi the water level of Yammuna river has crossed danger mark and all areas near Yammuna has experienced flood like situation. In posh Gurugram there is water logging and water of Yammuna has reached to streets there. It is prayed to Almighty that the rains should stop so that water of the river yammuna, Sutlej, Beas, Ravi and other rivers will recede so that people will heave of sigh of relief. To, sum up we can say ultimately humanity faces a choice –continue to blame the skies or confront its own follies by taking responsibility and implementing sustainable policies and practices. Humans stop blaming nature for all the calamities because these are compounded by the selfish and greedy actions of the people. We should stop over exploitation and over indulgence with the nature and then nature on its part will be benevolent and He will not harm us in the form of natural fury but the responsibility rests upon our shoulders and we should avoid tinkering with the nature and nature on its turn will be sympathetic to us humans. Till then Oh God we are to blame for all death and destruction which is going on in and around Jammu division and elsewhere in several states of the country.
The author is a columnist, social, KP activist & Freelancer |
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