Thursday, July 28, 2005

Rains in Mumbai!!!!

Something more about the Mumbai rains!
This one is not a forward...
I am sure all of us have been reading reports about the mUmbai rains etc etc.... and the prevailing complaint about the fucked-up infrastructure and lack of efficient management of disaster by Municipal corporation....
I was wondering about whether is it actually the inefficiency of the govt. or people in distress only want someone to blame (for which I dont blame them.. I probably wud have done the same!)
But anyway, I did some net-searching to find major rainfalls in the world, and see how many people died.... I didnt get stats for many (since most of these things were in the pre-internet era)... However, I am sure none of us even heard that there was a comparable heavy rainfall in Australia just last month!! It recorded 510 mm (rains in Mumbai were 37 inches which is 925 mm).. SO its not as severe but still comparable...
Here's the links,
http://www.abc.net.au/pm/content/2005/s1404408.htm
http://www.stormchasing.com.au/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&t=220

But the amazing fact is this:
Number died : ZERO
Missing: 2
Evacuated: 3000
The first two numbers are not surprising.... But guys, they evacuated 3000 people in 48 hours!!

Some 500 people have died in Bombay (and as far as I can read there really is no framework for managing these kind of situations in place..)
I am aware there are many mre factors in the two incidents and they cannot be compared.... But they still made sure noone died.... I am not sure of this but I think the average number of people dying in the not-so-rare earthquakes in US is like 10.
So I think it is not just people compaining, but the govt. really IS inefficient.... And the situation is really bad!

One last thing.... People everywhere on all websites are praising the amazing spirit of Mumbaikars etc.... I think the most amazing thing is that we still continue to pay more tax than any other city in India, pay also for the free ticketless train travel that takes place in UP-Bihar, not to mention the lacs given to the fuck-all politicians in Delhi.... and still dont get proper basic amenities not to mention the worst situations in times of disaster..... Also guess what.... when someone brings down a Masjid in Ayodhya, we are the ones who bear the riots/bombblasts et al.

Whatever..... Its all too too painful! Get back to work now!!!!
Vaibhav