Unwieldy tides

The Delhi floods raise a question that would, mutatis mundis, apply to all metropolises, where flooding has become increasingly common: Why were all Governments sleeping when floodplains and wetlands were encroached, lakes and ponds were built upon, drains were not cleaned, and the Yamuna River was not desilted. In a shocking dereliction of duty, barrage gates of the Yamuna were found jammed, leading to flooding. Water pits were left open, resulting in drowning of unsuspecting people, going about their usual business

- DEVENDRA SAKSENA

Less than a week ago, the country witnessed an unsavoury court battle between the Lieutenant Governor and Chief Minister in Delhi over who gets to chair the panel for cleaning the Yamuna. Yet when the Yamuna is in spate, displacing thousands and causing untold misery, neither of the two is willing to take responsibility for the damage caused by the rampaging river.

The inescapable conclusion is that a fight between politicians is mainly for the fishes and loaves of office; this was well summed up by a Shiv Sena (Shinde) minister when the Ajit Pawar faction of NCP joined the Government who said: “We had a full loaf, from now on we will have to make do with half a loaf.”

Predominance of such disheartening news has made reading the morning newspaper a depressing task; as if images of the Russia-Ukraine war, and famine and strife in the Horn of Africa were not discouraging enough, we have our own mini civil war in Manipur. Then there are floods in North India, particularly in the capital city, Delhi.

The fury of the rain god can neither be predicted nor lessened, but good planning and timely action can definitely mitigate human suffering when the skies burst.

Digging deeper into the news, one feels even more disturbed: six Delhi Police personnel have been arrested in as many days for offences like bribery and extortion. In fact, in a viral video, policemen are seen running with the CBI team in hot pursuit ~ a case of cops and robbers both being policemen.

One wonders, if the police cannot prevent their own colleagues from engaging in criminal activities, can a common man hope that the police could prevent criminals from targeting them?